Friday, 16 October 2020
22:34

futile   adjective | FYOO-tul   Definition   1 : serving no useful purpose : completely ineffective   2 : occupied with trifles : frivolous   Scroll down for more about futile

TRENDING NOW: stare decisis fly litany existential SEE ALL

PEOPLE ARE READING   ‘Fascism’: The Word’s Meaning and History   9 Debate and Argument Words   What Counts as a 'Dilemma'?   The Words of the Week - 10/9/20

WORD GAMES AND QUIZZES: WEEKLY CHALLENGE   Forms of Government Quiz   Name that government! Or something like that.     PLAY NOW     Nailed this quiz? We have plenty more to try! TAKE ME THERE

Did You Know?   Futile broke into 16th-century English as a Latinate borrowing from Middle French. The Latin derivative, fūtilis, was used to describe things that are brittle or fragile and, by extension, things serving no purpose or being pointless. These meanings survive in the English futile, which denotes ineffectiveness or frivolousness. In 1827, English author Robert Southey found use for the word by blending it into utilitarian to form futilitarian, a word that is used for anyone who believes that human striving is futile—that is, ineffective and/or frivolous.

Examples of FUTILE   "Austin Rivers … played a role in the fourth-quarter comeback attempt that proved futile." — Reuters, 11 Sept. 2020   "… anyone who's ever traded in the familiar role of wedding guest for the alien role of wedding focal point will know how futile an effort it is to remember events clearly. At this point, the night lives on for me through the colors in my brain and the considerably more reliable memories in the photographs." — Daniel Riley, GQ, 22 July 2020