ineffectual
Americanadjective
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having no effect or an inadequate effect
-
lacking in power or forcefulness; impotent
an ineffectual ruler
Related Words
See useless.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of ineffectual
A late Middle English word dating back to 1375–1425; see origin at in- 3, effectual
Explanation
If you are a coach with a losing team that doesn't listen to you, don't be surprised if you are called ineffectual. It means too weak to produce the desired effect. Ineffectual is similar to ineffective, but while ineffective implies that something simply doesn't work, ineffectual carries with it the idea of weakness too. An old computer might be ineffective for creating state-of-the-art digital presentations; a boss who looks the other way while her employees slack off all day, on the other hand, is ineffectual.
Vocabulary lists containing ineffectual
The Old Man and the Sea
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"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce
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The Haunting of Hill House
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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.
“Sinners” centers the Black American experience through history, art and spirituality, while “One Battle” speaks to the white liberal male’s ineffectual navigation of weaponized racial grievance.
From Salon • Mar. 13, 2026
The group has shown itself to be utterly ineffectual, unable to come up with a unified response to an international crisis.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
He said the claimants' complaints about the "harmful effects" were "shunned and ignored" before the nurses were "penalised and buried" in an "oppressive and ineffectual investigation process" carried out by the trust.
From BBC • Nov. 11, 2025
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.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 19, 2025
She made no ineffectual efforts to conduct her household en bonne ménagère, going and coming as it suited her fancy, and, so far as she was able, lending herself to any passing caprice.
From "The Awakening" by Kate Chopin
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.
