futility

futility
I
(Roget's IV) n.
Syn. uselessness, ineffectiveness, fruitlessness, falseness, hollowness, triviality, frivolity, idleness, vanity, emptiness, hopelessness, worthlessness, labor in vain, lost trouble, unprofitableness, purposelessness, pointlessness, meaninglessness, insubstantiality, vainness, bootlessness, falsity, illusion, folly, want of substance, unimportance, carrying water in a sieve, wild-goose chase, sowing the sand, labor of Sisyphus, running around in circles, beating the air, spinning one's wheels, carrying coals to Newcastle.
Ant. importance*, fruitfulness, significance.
II
(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.
uselessness, pointlessness, emptiness, worthlessness, ineffectiveness, frivolous-ness.
III
(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun The condition or quality of being useless or ineffective: bootlessness, fruitlessness, una-vailingness, unprofitableness, uselessness, vainness, vanity. See USED, THRIVE.

English dictionary for students. 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу
Synonyms:
, / , , , ,


Look at other dictionaries:

  • Futility — may refer to:*Resistance is futile, a term in science fiction *Futile medical care, a medical belief *Futile, an EP album by Porcupine Tree * Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan , an 1898 novel *The Advance Directives Act, a Texan health care law …   Wikipedia

  • Futility — Fu til i*ty, n. [L. futilitas: cf. F. futilit[ e].] 1. The quality of being talkative; talkativeness; loquaciousness; loquacity. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] 2. The quality of producing no valuable effect, or of coming to nothing; uselessness. [1913… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • futility — index impossibility Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • futility — 1620s, from Fr. futilité or directly from L. futilitatem (nom. futilitas) worthlessness, from futilis (see FUTILE (Cf. futile)). Hence, jocular futilitarian (1827) …   Etymology dictionary

  • futility — [n] uselessness emptiness, frivolousness, fruitlessness, hollowness, idleness, ineffectiveness, ineffectuality, meaninglessness, pointlessness, senselessness, unprofitableness, worthlessness; concept 560 …   New thesaurus

  • futility — [fyo͞o til′ə tē] n. pl. futilities 1. the quality of being futile 2. a futile act, thing, etc …   English World dictionary

  • futility — noun ADJECTIVE ▪ utter ▪ ultimate VERB + FUTILITY ▪ know, realize, recognize, see ▪ …   Collocations dictionary

  • Futility — Se ha sugerido que este artículo o sección sea fusionado con Futility, or the Wreck of the Titan (discusión). Una vez que hayas realizado la fusión de artículos, pide la fusión de historiales aquí. Todo comienza con la novela llamada Futility… …   Wikipedia Español

  • futility — n. an exercise in futility * * * [fjuː tɪlɪtɪ] an exercise in futility …   Combinatory dictionary

  • futility — fu|til|i|ty [ fju tıləti ] noun uncount a lack of purpose, importance, or effectiveness: His efforts were accompanied by a sense of futility and doubt. an exercise in futility a useless action that cannot succeed …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • futility — [[t]fjuːtɪ̱lɪti[/t]] N UNCOUNT: oft N of n/ ing Futility is a total lack of purpose or usefulness. ...the injustice and futility of terrorism …   English dictionary

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”