adjective
futile
FYOO-tul/ˈfjuːtl/
Unable to produce a useful result.
Filling the broken bucket is futile because the water immediately escapes.
Etymology
Latin futilis pictured something easily emptied or leaky, hence unreliable. This physical failure to hold contents became an image for an action incapable of producing a useful result.
In context
it was as a result of wounds, won in a frantic but futile attempt to charm a body of Crossbow men upon the march, that she lost her beautiful life.
More examples
- She makes a futile attempt to repair the shattered vase.
- Without the password, further guesses seem futile.
- It is futile to demand answers that nobody has.
Forms
futile · more futile · most futile
futility noun — The inability to achieve useful results.
Similar words
- ineffective
- Describes something that fails to work as intended.
- fruitless
- Describes efforts that yield no results, without implying impossibility.
- useless
- Can describe objects with no practical value, not just efforts.