Link Centre Dictionary

futile

fu·tile

UK/ˈfjuː.taɪl/ US/ˈfju.taɪl/ fairly common

adjective

1.

producing no result or effect

  • “a futile effort”
  • “the therapy was ineffectual”
  • “an otiose undertaking”
  • “an unavailing attempt”
2.

unproductive of success

  • “a fruitless search”
  • “futile years after her artistic peak”
  • “a sleeveless errand”
  • “a vain attempt”

Origin

Borrowed from Middle French futile, from Latin fūtilis.

Related words

Word family

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.