as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
disappointed to discover that the mare was unfruitful
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Recent Examples of unfruitful
But his administration’s efforts, so far, have been unfruitful.
—
Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 23 Apr. 2025
After a brief and unfruitful stint as a scout for the major league Milwaukee Brewers in the early 1970s, Uecker moved to the radio booth.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Some new grads have expressed frustration with lengthy and unfruitful job searches and questioned whether their work earning a degree was worth it.
—Jamie Merisotis, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
But the chances of the conviction being overturned are slim, and the decision to fight the charges against him to the bitter end—in contrast to Ellison and the other coconspirators—may continue to prove an unfruitful one.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 24 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 23 Apr. 2025
After a brief and unfruitful stint as a scout for the major league Milwaukee Brewers in the early 1970s, Uecker moved to the radio booth.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Some new grads have expressed frustration with lengthy and unfruitful job searches and questioned whether their work earning a degree was worth it.
—Jamie Merisotis, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
But the chances of the conviction being overturned are slim, and the decision to fight the charges against him to the bitter end—in contrast to Ellison and the other coconspirators—may continue to prove an unfruitful one.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 24 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfruitful
Adjective
-
Easy Spaces for Gathering Plenty of pattern and texture prevent the mostly white kitchen from feeling cold or sterile.—
Betsy Cribb Watson,
Southern Living,
7 Oct. 2025
-
While locations like a solar panel farm in the Australian outback fit the bill for near-future ground war, the result mostly feels sterile, amounting to a bunch of empty pathways bathed in stark daylight.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Where homes, buildings and fields once stood in the southern city of Rafah, there were now craters and barren wastelands.—
Stephen Sorace,
FOXNews.com,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Those who reached Spain were offered a place to rebuild their lives — on a small, barren island.—
Miquel Ros,
CNN Money,
7 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The first attempt of tech analyst Avi Greengart, president of Techsponential, to try out Ray-Ban Display turned into a fruitless retail odyssey across northern New Jersey.—
Rob Pegoraro,
PC Magazine,
4 Oct. 2025
-
Over Washington and Havana’s largely fruitless attempts at diplomacy during the Cold War, both parties considered the base as a bargaining chip of sorts, a leverage to pull in the interest of military de-escalation or possible normalization of diplomatic relations.—
Miriam Pensack,
The Dial,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unfruitful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfruitful. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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