as in uselessness
the quality or state of being useless
The two engaged in a long discussion on the futility of war. He felt saddened by the apparent futility of his efforts to console her.
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Recent Examples of futility
The pragmatists have reason to hope that the Israeli and American bombardment will ultimately strengthen their position by having shown the futility and destructiveness of Khamenei’s antagonism.
—
Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 25 June 2025
Perhaps a tipping point will come when Moscow begins to recognize the utter futility of this war and the long-term economic damage to Russia starts to outweigh the costs of acknowledging that the war’s political objective cannot be met.
—Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2025
While making a paper airplane is an exercise in creativity, flying one is an exercise in functionality, if not futility.
—Michael Monson, Christian Science Monitor, 21 May 2025
As the quality of (some) shows on Broadway improves, so does the difficulty and futility of ranking them.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for futility
Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 25 June 2025
Perhaps a tipping point will come when Moscow begins to recognize the utter futility of this war and the long-term economic damage to Russia starts to outweigh the costs of acknowledging that the war’s political objective cannot be met.
—Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs, 18 June 2025
While making a paper airplane is an exercise in creativity, flying one is an exercise in functionality, if not futility.
—Michael Monson, Christian Science Monitor, 21 May 2025
As the quality of (some) shows on Broadway improves, so does the difficulty and futility of ranking them.
—Jesse Green, New York Times, 16 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for futility
Recent Examples of Synonyms for futility
Noun
-
As research highlighted the inefficacy and unintended consequences of these laws, states rolled them back or modified them, mostly by partially repealing them or reducing the severity of mandatory sentences.—
John Leverso,
The Conversation,
26 Feb. 2025
-
The solution is to test AI agents thoroughly to identify any inefficacies.—
Theo Schnitfink,
Forbes.com,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
This 2020 essay provides a deep dive into literacy deficiencies, fear, psychological reasoning, disproportionate weighting of information on the Internet, and other factors that perpetuate them.—
Marshall Shepherd,
Forbes.com,
19 July 2025
-
Not only are the two parties unpopular in polling terms, but their struggle for power seems defined more by their deficiencies and limitations than by the breadth of their appeal.—
Craig Gilbert,
jsonline.com,
18 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Futility.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/futility. Accessed 23 Jul. 2025.
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