purposeless
- adjective
- /ˈpɜr.pəs.ləs/
- After working on a purposeless project for weeks, she decided to start something meaningful.
- purposeless activity
- purposeless violence
I know that it's fairly easy for people to hear this and think of it as just a bunch of loud, random, purposeless noise.
- I know that it's fairly easy for people to hear this and think of it as just a bunch of loud, random, purposeless noise.
- So he says enlightenment, in its view of the action of faith, finds the rejection of enjoyment and possessions wrong and purposeless.
- Because that makes them feel lazy, makes them feel purposeless, etc.
Examples
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Because that makes them feel lazy, makes them feel purposeless, etc.
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For a woman such as Emma, vagabondage is but a whirlwind of purposeless activity.
Academic text (1994) -
Abandoned to a purposeless existence.
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It all seems purposeless without you.
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Nana Mama's long, purposeless life would soon be at an end.
Fiction book (1998) -
Theodor Adorno suggested that only purposeless, autonomous art could resist the logic of instrumental reason.
Academic text (2014) -
Sheena 5 drifted, purposeless, and the soft gravity of Reinmuth started to drag her down for the last time.
Fiction book (2000) -
Playing and sport have often been regarded—indeed, defined—as purposeless, expressive "pure fun" activities (Huizinga 1955: esp. 89-104).
Academic text (2000) -
He felt trapped in a purposeless job that did not inspire him at all.
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Staring at the wall, he pondered his purposeless existence and what it all meant.
Synonyms
Not able to do the job it is made for
Having no meaning, value, or purpose
Not doing anything useful
Not likely to work or help
Foolish and having no clear reason
More than what is needed or useful
Not having a clear goal or plan
Having no clear aim or plan
Not giving useful results or helping to finish work, like a meeting
Not working or useful for any purpose
Having no plan or clear aim
Useless and not needed
Not useful or important
Not done with a clear aim or useful reason
Having no clear aim or purpose
Antonyms
How Purposeful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Purposeless is made of purpose and the ending -less, where purpose comes from an old idea of 'putting forward' a goal and -less means 'without'. So purposeless literally means 'without a goal' or 'without useful aim', which is why we use it for actions or lives that feel empty.