fruitless
Americanadjective
-
useless; unproductive; without results or success.
a fruitless search for the missing treasure.
- Synonyms:
- vain, unavailing, futile
- Antonyms:
- profitable, useful
-
bearing no fruit; barren.
- Synonyms:
- sterile
- Antonyms:
- fertile
adjective
-
yielding nothing or nothing of value; unproductive; ineffectual
-
without fruit
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fruitless
Middle English word dating back to 1300–50; see origin at fruit, -less
Explanation
Fruitless things are futile or pointless. If your search for your missing car keys is fruitless, you don't find them no matter how hard you look. You can call a fruitless search a wild goose chase — despite your efforts, you're unsuccessful. If you spend a fruitless afternoon applying for jobs, you end up without a single offer, and if your attempt to get your dog and cat to be pals is fruitless, they end up hating each other just as much as they ever did. The adjective fruitless comes from the sense of "unproductive" or "without profit," like a fruit tree that doesn't grow any fruit.
Vocabulary lists containing fruitless
Power Suffix: -less
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"Rogue Wave" by Theodore Taylor
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Twelfth Night
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Fruitless negotiations with Italy’s government over a possible rescue deal for state-owned Monte dei Paschi stopped Orcel from making a move for Banco BPM last year.
From Reuters • Mar. 2, 2022
The working title of the book, for me, was "Fruitless."
From Salon • Nov. 15, 2021
Fruitless olive trees provide screening between “rooms” and help to define an open space where the couple and their friends play the popular beanbag toss game Cornhole.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 8, 2018
‘The Guns at Last Light: the War in Western Europe, 1944-1945’ Fruitless combat in places like Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan can evoke a certain wistfulness for World War II.
From Seattle Times • May 22, 2013
In moments, he disappeared from view into the shadow of Fruitless Mountain, and if it wasn’t for the goldfish Minli had in her hands, all would have thought he was a dream.
From "Where the Mountain Meets the Moon" by Grace Lin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
