futile

Intermediatezipf 3.39

Pronunciation

/ˈfjuːtaɪl/(FYOO-tile)

Part of speech

adjectiveneutral

Chinese

徒劳的；无用的；无意义的

Definition

Incapable of producing any useful result; pointless.

Word family

  • futility/fjuːˈtɪləti/(n)徒劳
  • futilely/ˈfjuːtaɪlli/(adv)徒劳地

Collocations

  • futile attempt
  • futile effort
  • prove futile
  • exercise in futility

Examples

  1. 1.It was futile to argue with someone so stubborn. (pointless)
  2. 2.All rescue efforts proved futile — the ship had already sunk. (unsuccessful)

Synonyms

  • pointless/ˈpɔɪntləs/— no purpose
  • useless/ˈjuːsləs/— no practical value
  • vain/veɪn/— without success, often after effort

Etymology

from Latin "futilis" = leaky — like pouring water into a leaky vessel — effort wasted