nugatory
adjective
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Nugatory, which first appeared in English in the 17th century, comes from the Latin adjective nugatorius and is ultimately a derivative of the noun nugae, meaning "trifles." Like its synonyms vain, idle, empty, and hollow, nugatory means "without worth or significance." But while nugatory suggests triviality or insignificance ("a monarch with nugatory powers," for example), vain implies either absolute or relative absence of value (as in "vain promises"). Idle suggests being incapable of worthwhile use or effect (as in "idle speculations"). Empty and hollow suggest a deceiving lack of real substance or genuineness (as in "an empty attempt at reconciliation" or "a hollow victory").
Synonyms
- bad
- inoperative
- invalid
- nonbinding
- nonvalid
- null
- null and void
- void
Example Sentences
W. James Antle Iii, The Week, 4 Mar. 2022 It could be used to rationalize stealing the pennies from a dead man’s eyes, true, even considering the nugatory value of the contemporary penny. Marilynne Robinson, The New York Review of Books, 27 May 2020 Yet all of these questions seem, increasingly, merely nostalgic, nugatory, in the face of the dissolution of the common solidarity of principles that had once made the liberation happen. Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 6 June 2019 Word History
Latin nugatorius, from nugari to trifle, from nugae trifles
1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Legal Definition
nugatory
adjective
nugatory
adjective
Synonyms & Similar Words
- invalid
- null
- void
- inoperative
- illegal
- nonbinding
- useless
- worthless
- null and void
- ineffectual
- bad
- ineffective
- nonvalid
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- valid
- good
- legal
- binding
- working
Synonyms & Similar Words
- minor
- small
- worthless
- little
- trifling
- trivial
- unimportant
- frivolous
- slight
- inconsiderable
- incidental
- inconsequential
- insignificant
- foolish
- negligible
- petty
- minute
- fiddling
- small-fry
- neither here nor there
- Mickey Mouse
- jerkwater
- obscure
- paltry
- anonymous
- unknown
- one-horse
- nickel-and-dime
- nameless
- uncelebrated
- small-time
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- substantial
- consequential
- important
- significant
- meaningful
- weighty
- momentous
- fatal
- major
- eventful
- decisive
- material
- big
- valuable
- worthy
- dominant
- chief
- principal
- overbearing
- remarkable
- impressive
- worthwhile
- fateful
- outstanding
- exceptional
- overriding
- eminent
- distinctive
- overmastering
- prominent
- unfrivolous
- essential
- illustrious
- distinguished
- great
- fundamental
- basic
- notorious
- famous
- prestigious
- key
- renowned
- preeminent
- all-important
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of nugatory are empty, hollow, idle, otiose, and vain. While all these words mean "being without worth or significance," nugatory suggests triviality or insignificance.
Both empty and hollow suggest a deceiving lack of real substance or soundness or genuineness.
While in some cases nearly identical to nugatory, idle suggests being incapable of worthwhile use or effect.
The synonyms otiose and nugatory are sometimes interchangeable, but otiose suggests that something serves no purpose and is either an encumbrance or a superfluity.
In some situations, the words vain and nugatory are roughly equivalent. However, vain implies either absolute or relative absence of value.