Synonyms for futile
- adjective
Most common
All synonyms
Adjective
1. Fruitless — insignificant; frivolous
fruitless, vain, useless, ineffectual, unavailing, ineffective, pointless, frivolous, unprofitable, unsuccessful, meaningless, worthless, unproductive, trifling, trivial, abortive, weak, puerile, idle, feckless, barren, bootless
Other
inutile dated
Definitions
- adj. 1
Insignificant; frivolous.
Choose the right word
That which is useless, futile, or vain is inherently incapable of accomplishing a specified result.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- useless There's nothing in here but a lot of useless junk.
- fruitless After three fruitless attempts, he tried one last time.
- ineffectual My efforts seemed ineffectual.
- unavailing All efforts have been unavailing.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| futile | steady | |
| useless | steady | |
| fruitless | steady | |
| ineffectual | steady | |
| unavailing | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- weak1, vain1, idle2
- 6 letters
- barren2
- 7 letters
- useless2, trivial3, puerile2, inutile
- 8 letters
- trifling2, abortive3, feckless2, bootless
- 9 letters
- pointless2, worthless2, frivolous3, fruitless2
- 10 letters
- unavailing4
- 11 letters
- ineffective4, meaningless3, ineffectual5
- 12 letters
- unsuccessful4, unproductive4, unprofitable5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (idle2 = 2 syllables).