Synonyms for profitless
- adjective
Most common
futile fruitless unprofitable abortive thankless unrewarding bootless otiose
All synonyms
Adjective
Definitions
- adj. 1
not yielding profit
Choose the right word
That which is bootless, fruitless, or profitless fails to accomplish any valuable result; that which is abortive, ineffectual, or unavailing fails to accomplish a result that it was, or was supposed to be, adapted to accomplish.
J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)
Example sentences
- futile When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
- fruitless After three fruitless attempts, he tried one last time.
- unprofitable No one ever said smut was unprofitable.
- abortive Their effort proved abortive.
- thankless Being a boss is a thankless position.
- unrewarding Admittedly, this is an unrewarding task, but somebody has got to deal with it.
Popularity over time
| Word | 1850 → 2019 | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| profitless | falling | |
| futile | steady | |
| fruitless | steady | |
| unprofitable | falling | |
| abortive | falling | |
| thankless | steady |
Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.
By length
- 4 letters
- vain1
- 6 letters
- futile2, barren2, otiose3
- 7 letters
- sterile2
- 8 letters
- abortive3, bootless
- 9 letters
- worthless2, fruitless2, thankless2
- 11 letters
- ineffective4, ineffectual5, unrewarding
- 12 letters
- unsuccessful4, unproductive4, unprofitable5
The small number after each word is its number of syllables (futile2 = 2 syllables).