fruitless
/ˈfruːtləs
/adjective
1Failing to achieve the desired results; unproductive or useless: his fruitless attempts to publish poetry...
- And when their efforts again prove mostly fruitless, the cycle starts anew.
- Trying to make ourselves stronger than everyone else is surely an unproductive, ultimately fruitless endeavor.
- But measuring the group's many recordings against each other is ultimately fruitless.
Synonyms
futile, vain, in vain, to no avail, to no effect, idle;
pointless, useless, worthless, needless, wasted, hollow;
ineffectual, ineffective, inefficacious;
unproductive, unrewarding, profitless, unsuccessful, unavailing, barren, for naught;
abortive
archaic bootless
2(Of a tree or plant) not producing fruit: a banana leaf from a fruitless palm
Derivatives
fruitlessly
/ adverb ...- Don't waste energy fruitlessly pursuing it; distract yourself with something productive, be it whittling, knitting or washing dishes.
- As he had done, fruitlessly, so many times before, he raised his voice in the chill air to sing a melody which he and Richard - no mean musician himself - had composed together.
- Ignorant of the word ‘pushchair’, she fruitlessly searched London for plastic covers for her ‘stroller’.
fruitlessness
- Acknowledging the basic fruitlessness of human existence is important, but so is grinning.
- For further proof of the fruitlessness of the efforts in either penalty box there was the final frantic exchanges in County's box.
- The depiction of the brutality and fruitlessness of war leaves a lasting impact on the reader.