fruitless

adjective

fruit·​less ˈfrüt-ləs 

1

: unsuccessful

a fruitless attempt

2

: lacking or not bearing fruit

fruitlessly adverb

fruitlessness noun

Synonyms of fruitless

• unsuccessful
• futile
• useless

Choose the Right Synonym for fruitless

futile, vain, fruitless mean producing no result.

futile may connote completeness of failure or unwisdom of undertaking.

resistance had proved so futile that surrender was the only choice left

vain usually implies simple failure to achieve a desired result.

a vain attempt to get the car started

fruitless comes close to vain but often suggests long and arduous effort or severe disappointment.

fruitless efforts to obtain a lasting peace

Examples of fruitless in a Sentence

They made a fruitless attempt to find a solution.

It would be fruitless to continue.

Recent Examples on the Web

Confronted by a stubborn Mexican defense, the Koreans receded into a zigzag of impressive but somewhat fruitless passing. — E. Tammy Kim, New Yorker, 24 June 2026

Remember his fruitless exchange of love letters with Kim Jong Un? — Daniel B. Shapiro, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026

The Iran war has distracted Washington from its largely fruitless effort to end the fighting in Ukraine, and Zelensky sought to engage with Trump at the G-7 gathering where key European leaders were also present. — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 17 June 2026

Ellen Heronemus The bulk of the funding for wind power flowed to big aerospace firms and to NASA, financing an ultimately fruitless attempt to leap straight to megawatt-scale wind turbines. — IEEE Spectrum, 15 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English fruytles, frutles, from fruyt, frut fruit entry 1 + -les -less

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fruitless

• bootless
• rootless

Kids Definition

fruitless

adjective

fruit·​less ˈfrüt-ləs 

1

: not bearing fruit

2

: producing no good results : unsuccessful

a fruitless attempt

fruitlessly adverb

fruitlessness noun