bootless

adjective

ˈbüt-ləs How to pronounce bootless (audio)
Definition of bootlessnext
as in unsuccessful
producing no results a bootless effort to get tickets to the sold-out game

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bootless
  1. unsuccessful
  2. futile
  3. useless
  4. unavailing
Adjective
  • Attempts to reach Williams’ family for comment were unsuccessful Sunday evening.
    — Dana Griffin, NBC news, 2 Aug. 2026
  • The team tried excavating another unknown soldier from an unrelated case just a day before, but were unsuccessful.
    — Hope McKenney, NPR, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of unsuccessful
Adjective
  • However, year after year, predicting Preller’s midsummer machinations has proved a largely futile endeavor.
    — Dennis Lin, New York Times, 30 July 2026
  • Now an Oda envoy and renowned strategist named Kanbei Kuroda (Masaki Suda) has come to Murashige’s fortress to convince him that resistance is futile.
    — Justin Chang, New Yorker, 30 July 2026
Definition of futile
Adjective
  • But from how the thudding steps gained on me, my efforts were useless.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 31 July 2026
  • The wrong answer, no matter how inexpensive or how fast it has been delivered, is useless.
    — Bruce Kelley, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026
Definition of useless
Adjective
  • On Saturday, Durant reaffirmed his stance that the question of his and other superstars’ effort was an unavailing narrative to explore every February.
    — Devon Henderson, New York Times, 14 Feb. 2026
  • The position advanced by the states is legally unavailing as a matter of longstanding and well-established law.
    — WSJ, WSJ, 25 July 2018
Definition of unavailing
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

bootlegs
bootless
bootlessness
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Cite this Entry

“Bootless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bootless. Accessed 3 Aug. 2026.

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