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uselessly

uselessly

4 3.5
In a way that does not help or make any difference
  • adverb
  • /ˈjuːsləsli/
translation icon : inútilmente
  • The sail to which it was fastened, suddenly loosed, flapped uselessly in the wind.
  • arms hang uselessly
  • legs dangled uselessly
  • hands dangled uselessly

Well, that that is a uselessly reductionist view, right?

Examples

  • Yet even snakes, if only wounded, felt pain and suffered uselessly for hours.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • He's doing a study, saying that all that kelp, instead of uselessly decaying, could be harvested and put to use.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • l cannot see you throw your life away uselessly.

  • We've used up our strength uselessly.

  • The earth pulled in and went so dry that water poured on it ran away uselessly.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • The mountain dogs with their sharp teeth gnaw uselessly at pieces of bone.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • Staring uselessly into space?

  • "In other words," Agnes said, "a trashcan that rolls back and forth, endlessly and uselessly."

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The effort undulated uselessly down to his lower limbs, awakening dormant nerve endings.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • He tried to fix the old car, but he worked on it uselessly as it was beyond repair.

Synonyms

vainly
vsuselessly
5 5.5

In a way that does not succeed

emphasizes absence of useful result rather than meaning or value
pointlessly
vsuselessly
4 4.3

In a way that has no purpose or use

focuses on lack of result rather than lack of purpose
futilely
vsuselessly
3 7.4

In a way that does not make a difference

is doing something without producing useful effect
ineffectively
vsuselessly
3 4.0

In a way that does not get the result you want

focuses on lack of useful outcome rather than effort
fruitlessly
vsuselessly
2 6.0

In a way that does not succeed

describes action that fails to produce useful outcome
ineffectually
vsuselessly
1 6.3

In a way that does not get the result you want

refers to doing something that does not work usefully
unhelpfully
vsuselessly
1 3.5

In a way that does not make things better or easier

speaks of producing no useful effect rather than not helping
unproductively
vsuselessly
1 6.7

In a way that fails to get useful results

is broader, stressing uselessness rather than just low productivity
worthlessly
vsuselessly
1 6.5

In a way that has no value or use

focuses on usefulness of outcome rather than on value judgment
unavailingly
vsuselessly
8.0

Without success when someone tries to do something

highlights lack of useful result rather than effort quality

Antonyms

261 3.6

In a way that gets the result you want

5 1.1

In a way that helps reach a goal

How Useful

vitally
22 3.9
beneficially
1 4.1
helpfully
9 1.0
usefully
5 1.1
uselessly
4 3.5
pointlessly
4 4.3

Surface Forms

uselessly positive

Morphology

uselessly = useless (transparent) = use + less + ly

Standard adverb formation by adding '-ly' to the adjective 'useless', preserving the adjective's meaning as an adverbial manner.

Etymology

Uselessly comes from the common verb use plus the ending -less meaning 'without', and the ending -ly which makes it 'in a ... way'. So, uselessly means doing something 'without use', that is, in a way that does not help or bring a result.