meaningless

[mee-ning-lis]

adjective

1. without meaning, mean, meaning, significance, purpose, or value; purposeless; insignificant.

   a meaningless reply; a meaningless existence.

meaningless

/ ˈmiːnɪŋlɪs /

adjective

1. futile or empty of meaning

Other Word Forms

• meaninglessness noun
• meaninglessly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of meaningless¹

First recorded in 1790–1800; meaning + -less

Example Sentences

Jennifer Norris, an attorney at the Immigrant Defenders Law Center, said the government’s actions now effectively render withholding of removal and protection under the anti-torture convention meaningless.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

In comparison, “Shine” is meaningless in terms of success and potential.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“They wanted you to see what little you could get in the context of the entire document, even though that’s kind of meaningless,” he said.

Read more on Salon

With the Allied victory drawing near, her lawyer was confident that even a guilty verdict would be meaningless, as Senesh would be freed as soon as Budapest was liberated.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

The stock market was just another encrypted transmission — meaningless statics hiding meaningful patterns.

Read more on MarketWatch

Related Words

• absurd 
• empty 
• futile 
• hollow 
• inconsequential 
• insignificant 
• pointless 
• senseless 
• trivial 
• unimportant 
• useless 
• vague 
• worthless