uselessness

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

Lack of utility

Nouns

1. uselessness, inutility; inefficacy, futility; impracticableness, im-practicality; inefficiency, impotence; worthlessness, vanity, inanity, unimportance. See unskillfulness, hopelessness.

2. unproductiveness, unprofitableness; infertility, infecundity, barrenness, aridity; labor lost, wild-goose chase, voice in the wilderness.

3. waste; desert, Sahara, wilderness, wild, tundra, marsh; litter, rubbish, odds and ends, cast-offs; junk, dross, shoddy, rags, orts, trash, refuse, sweepings, scourings, rubble, debris; stubble, leavings; dregs; weeds, tares; white elephant; rubbish heap. See remainder.

Verbs

1. be useless or unproductive; come to nothing; fall; seek or strive after impossibilities; roll the stone of Sisyphus; bay at the moon, preach to the winds, chase one's tail, tilt at windmills, plow the sand, chase rainbows; lock the barn door after the horse is stolen; cast pearls before swine; carry coals to Newcastle; cry over spilled milk; beat one's head against a wall, make bricks without straw. Slang, piss in the wind.

2. disable, hamper (see hindrance); cripple, lame; spike guns, clip the wings; put out of gear; decommission, dismantle, disassemble, break up, tear down, raze, demolish, destroy; wear out; pull the fangs or teeth of, tie one's hands, put in a straitjacket.

Adjectives

1. useless, inutile, inefficacious, futile, unavailing, bootless; ineffectual, ineffective, effete; inoperative, unproductive, barren, infertile, sterile, fallow; unprofitable, null and void; inadequate, insufficient; unskillful (see UNSKiLLFULNESs); superfluous, dispensable, disposable, throwaway; thrown away, wasted; abortive.

2. worthless, nugatory, valueless, unsalable; not worth a straw; vain, empty, inane; gainless, profitless, fruitless; unserviceable, unprofitable; ill-spent; obsolete; good for nothing, no-good; of no earthly use; not worth having, not worth a cent, unnecessary, unneeded. Slang, not worth a tinker's damn.

Adverbs — uselessly, to little or no purpose; to no avail.

Phrases — dogs bark, but the caravan goes on; you cannot get blood from a stone.

Quotations — Everything exists, nothing has value (E. M. Forster), It seems that I have spent my entire time trying to make life more rational and that it was all wasted effort (A. J. Ayer), All dressed up [in their fighting clothes, ] with nowhere to go (William Allen White).

Antonyms, see utility, production.

II

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. The condition or quality of being useless or ineffective: bootlessness, fruitlessness, futility, unavailingness, unprofitableness, vainness, vanity. See THRIVE, USED. 2. The condition or state of being incapable of accomplishing or effecting anything: helplessness, impotence, inadequacy, incapability, ineffectiveness, inef-fectuality, ineffectualness, inefficacy, powerlessness. See AFFECT, STRONG.