Dictionary

futile en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• [ˈfju.ɾəl] (US)
• /ˈfju.təl/ (US)
• /ˈfju.taɪl/ (US)
• /ˈfjuː.taɪl/ (UK)

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French futile, from Latin fūtilis.

Meanings

1. Incapable of producing results, useless; doomed not to be successful; not worth attempting.
   • He wished he had not been saddled with Whippham's rather futile son as his chaplain. 1917, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, The Soul of a Bishop:
   • He seemed hitherto to have been living by proxy, in a vision, in reflection—to have been an echo, a shadow, a futile attempt;[…] 1879, Henry James, chapter XXI, in Confidence, London: Chatto & Windus:
   • Goals from Steven Pienaar, Andros Townsend, Jermain Defoe and Harry Kane sealed the win, but Rubin Kazan's 1-1 draw against PAOK Salonika rendered Spurs' efforts futile. 2011 December 15, Marc Higginson, “Shamrock Rovers 0-4 Tottenham”, in BBC Sport:
   • There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.[…]Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place. 1915, G[eorge] A. Birmingham [pseudonym; James Owen Hannay], chapter I, in Gossamer, New York, N.Y.: George H. Doran Company, →OCLC:
   • No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or[…]. And at last I began to realize in my harassed soul that all elusion was futile, and to take such holidays as I could get, when he was off with a girl, in a spirit of thankfulness. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 46:
   • But Bathsheba, though she could feel, was not much given to futile dreaming, and her musings under this head were short and entirely confined to the times when Troy’s neglect was more than ordinarily evident. 1874, Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Smith, Elder & Co., […], →OCLC:
2. Insignificant; frivolous.
   • Of its history little is recorded, and that little futile. 1853, John Ruskin, The Stones of Venice, volume II (The Sea-Stories), London: Smith, Elder, and Co., […], →OCLC, page 120:
   • This idiosyncrasy is brought out by social pressure, while in a state of nature it might have betrayed itself only in trivial and futile ways, as it does among barbarians. 1905, George Santayana, Reason in Common Sense (The Life of Reason), volume 1:

Forms

Antonyms

productive · worthwhile · utilizable · useful · fruitful · effective · profitable · effectual · purposeful · gainful

Deriveds

futilism · futileness · unfutile

Relateds

futility · futilely · futilitarian

Synonyms

bootless · unutilizable · otiose · gainless · idle · ineffectual · unavailing · profitless · dry · purposeless · sterile · void · futile · barren · inefficacious · vain · unuseful · fruitless · no good · pointless · unprofitable · tired · inutile · useless

Translations (89)

la futilis (incapable of producing results) · bg напра́зен (incapable of producing results) · be дарэ́мны (incapable of producing results) · he עָקָר (incapable of producing results) · got 𐌷𐌰𐌻𐌺𐍃 (incapable of producing results) · et tulutu (incapable of producing results) · grc μάταιος (incapable of producing results) · vi vô ích (incapable of producing results) · hy ապարդյուն (incapable of producing results) · fa بی فایده (incapable of producing results) · ka ფუჭი (incapable of producing results) · ja 無駄 (incapable of producing results) · vi vô dụng (incapable of producing results) · el μάταιος (incapable of producing results) · oc futil (incapable of producing results) · sk zbytočný (incapable of producing results) · ja 無益 (incapable of producing results) · hi अकारथ (incapable of producing results) · tr nafile (incapable of producing results) · my အလဟဿဖြစ်သော (incapable of producing results) · fi katteeton (incapable of producing results) · nb nyttelaus (incapable of producing results) · et kasutu (incapable of producing results) · fi tulokseton (incapable of producing results) · gd dìomhain (incapable of producing results) · de zwecklos (incapable of producing results) · mhr арам (incapable of producing results) · th เปล่าประโยชน์ (incapable of producing results) · sv meningslös (incapable of producing results) · sv lönlös (incapable of producing results) · de vergeblich (incapable of producing results) · ca fútil (incapable of producing results) · ru напра́сный (incapable of producing results) · io vana (incapable of producing results) · uk некори́сний (incapable of producing results) · ja 無用 (incapable of producing results) · be бескары́сны (incapable of producing results) · fi toivoton (incapable of producing results) · fr futile (incapable of producing results) · bg безуспе́шен (incapable of producing results) · my အချည်းနှီးဖြစ်သေ (incapable of producing results) · pt fútil (incapable of producing results) · kmr bêfeyde (incapable of producing results) · ru беспло́дный (incapable of producing results) · mi mūhore (incapable of producing results) · de nutzlos (incapable of producing results) · hi फ़ज़ूल (incapable of producing results) · cs jalový (incapable of producing results) · gl fútil (incapable of producing results) · nv chʼééh (incapable of producing results) · nb nytteløs (incapable of producing results) · fo nyttuleysur (incapable of producing results) · gd faoin (incapable of producing results) · bg безполе́зен (incapable of producing results) · it futile (incapable of producing results) · ms sia-sia (incapable of producing results) · nn nyttelaus (incapable of producing results) · km អសារ (incapable of producing results) · pl daremny (incapable of producing results) · cmn 無益 /无益 (incapable of producing results) · cmn 枉然 (incapable of producing results) · lt bergždžias (incapable of producing results) · hy իզուր (incapable of producing results) · cmn 無用 /无用 (incapable of producing results) · ru бесполе́зный (incapable of producing results) · mi huakore (incapable of producing results) · fi turha (incapable of producing results) · da nytteløs (incapable of producing results) · la cassus (incapable of producing results) · es fútil (incapable of producing results) · fa پوچ (incapable of producing results) · hy զուր (incapable of producing results) · mi papakore (incapable of producing results) · chr ᎤᏚᎩᏄᏛᎾ (incapable of producing results) · tr boş (incapable of producing results) · ka ამაო (incapable of producing results) · uk даре́мний (incapable of producing results) · sv fåfäng (incapable of producing results) · fa عبث (incapable of producing results) · de sinnlos (incapable of producing results) · ar عَقِيم (incapable of producing results) · kmr bêkêr (incapable of producing results) · sk márny (incapable of producing results) · ru тще́тный (incapable of producing results) · nl nutteloos (incapable of producing results) · pl bezcelowy (incapable of producing results) · sk nepatrný (incapable of producing results) · tr beyhude (incapable of producing results) · nl tevergeefs (incapable of producing results)