ineffectual

[in-i-fek-choo-uhl]

adjective

1. not effectual; without satisfactory or decisive effect.

   an ineffectual remedy.

2. unavailing; futile.

   His efforts to sell the house were ineffectual.

   Synonyms: abortive, pointless, fruitless, ineffective

3. powerless; impotent.

   Synonyms: weak, feeble

ineffectual

/ ˌɪnɪˈfɛktʃʊəl /

adjective

1. having no effect or an inadequate effect

2. lacking in power or forcefulness; impotent

   an ineffectual ruler

Other Word Forms

• ineffectuality noun
• ineffectually adverb
• ineffectualness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of ineffectual¹

A late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; in- ³, effectual

Synonym Study

See useless.

Example Sentences

The war has proved the military’s equipment—planes, ships, tanks, trucks and weapons—to be as ineffectual as its leadership.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

For most of this century, the U.S. has been an ineffectual force in Latin America.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

A diplomat by nature and possessed of old-fashioned manners, he struggled as a party leader and his performances in the bear pit of Prime Minister's Questions were seen by many as ineffectual.

Read more on BBC

It’s also odd that the activist-minded Greengrass didn’t do more with so corporate a villain: legally responsible utility PG&E, represented in the movie by an ineffectual suit who is briefly yelled at.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

But for quite a while there, such efforts seemed almost entirely ineffectual and easily mockable: Scared, grumpy left-behinders yelling at the diverse metropolitan types of Obama-era America to get off their lawn.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• futile 
• impotent 
• inadequate 
• ineffective 
• inefficient 
• insufficient 
• unproductive