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

One kidney specialist, who requested anonymity to discuss their use of a tool that had not been explicitly approved by their hospital system, said that OpenEvidence regularly saved them 30 minutes of fruitless searching through older systems — including UpToDate. —Jared Perlo, NBC news, 13 May 2026

The meeting was fruitless, with both sides pointing fingers at each other for the failure to reach a deal. —Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 10 May 2026

After some pressure by the Ducks on their second fruitless power play of the period, Vegas struck shorthanded. —Andrew Knoll, Oc Register, 9 May 2026

After years of fruitless mediation, Guyana in 2018 asked ICJ judges to affirm the 1899 border decision. —ABC News, 4 May 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