futile

[fyoot-l, fyoo-tahyl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR futile ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

incapable of producing any result; ineffective; useless; not successful: Attempting to force-feed the sick horse was futile.

trifling; frivolous; unimportant.

Origin of futile

1545–55; < Latin fūtilis, futtilis easily broken, vain, worthless, equivalent to fūt- (akin to fundere to pour, melt) + -ilis -ile

Related formsfu·tile·ly, adverbfu·tile·ness, nounnon·fu·tile, adjectiveun·fu·tile, adjective

Synonyms for futile

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR futile ON THESAURUS.COM

1. See useless.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for futilely

unsuccessfully, futilely, ineffectually, uselessly

Examples from the Web for futilely

Contemporary Examples of futilely

But conservatism now feels a lot like liberalism did in 1984 and 1985, back when I was futilely shoveling away that snow.
The Case for Transformation
Michael Tomasky
January 23, 2013
I have spent the many years since trying, futilely, to catch up.
Inside the NYT Book Review: ‘How I Write’ Interviews Sam Tanenhaus
Noah Charney
August 8, 2012
Israel is quick to laud those who fought the Nazis, no matter how futilely, over those who went powerless to their deaths.
Israel's Private Shame
Matt Beynon Rees
April 21, 2009

Historical Examples of futilely

He had waited too often and futilely in the past for porcupines to unroll, to waste any more time.
White Fang
Jack London
Futilely he beat and thrust with his arms against the pillarlike limb.
Salvage in Space
John Stewart Williamson
He caught a glimpse of Carmena futilely clutching for Slade's throat.
Bloom of Cactus
Robert Ames Bennet
Her shoulders heaved as—futilely—she strove to wrench her arms free.
From Place to Place
Irvin S. Cobb
Maida's voice, futilely attempting to broadcast over the uproar.
Tarrano the Conqueror
Raymond King Cummings

British Dictionary definitions for futilely

futile

adjective

having no effective result; unsuccessful

pointless; unimportant; trifling

inane or foolishdon't be so futile!

Derived Formsfutilely, adverbfutileness, noun

Word Origin for futile

C16: from Latin futtilis pouring out easily, worthless, from fundere to pour out

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for futilely

futile

adj.

1550s, from Middle French futile, from Latin futilis "vain, worthless, futile," literally "pouring out easily" (of a vessel), hence "easily emptied, leaky, unreliable," from base of fundere "pour, melt," from PIE root *gheu- "to pour" (see found (v.2)). Related: Futilely.