POINTLESSNESS Synonyms: 49 Similar and Opposite Words

pointlessness

noun

as in meaninglessness

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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.

Recent Examples of pointlessness Emotions of shame and anger mixed with the sheer pointlessness of it all. — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 9 Sep. 2026 The battle that follows — a muddy and mean scrum — is even more ghastly, partly for its utter pointlessness. — ABC News, 17 June 2026 Such expeditions can turn into a Buddhistic exercise in enlightened pointlessness. — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pointlessness

Noun

In both films, everything comes in threes, the incessant crosscutting is accorded a flashy metaphysical weight, and time itself is manipulated, distorted, and rearranged to the point of meaninglessness.

— Justin Chang, New Yorker, 3 Nov. 2026
Like emo in the early to mid ’00s, the genre marker has been muddied to the point of near meaninglessness.

— Brendan Menapace, SPIN, 3 Aug. 2026

Definition of meaninglessness

Noun

The coal industry is not coming back from its inexorable slide toward irrelevance, not to mention its catastrophic effect on the environment.

— Business Columnist, Los Angeles Times, 2 Nov. 2026
Koolhaas’s essay narrates both the irrelevance of modernism and the disappearance of architecture into communication.

— Alec Mapes-Frances, Artforum, 1 Nov. 2026

Definition of irrelevance

Noun

The demand has nonetheless persisted, exposing for countries in question the inadequacy of indefinitely postponing reparations through diplomatic language.

— Brooke N. Newman, The Conversation, 29 Oct. 2026
They are confined to their bodies, rife with their many flaws and inadequacies.

— Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2026

Definition of inadequacy

Noun

But for less intimate relationships, the perception of wrongness was the key predictor of negative feelings and avoidance.

— Andras Molnar, The Conversation, 13 Aug. 2026
Hidden, almost, in the center of the exhibition are a few of Mendieta’s early paintings from the late 1960s and early 1970s, which have a jarring feeling of wrongness about them.

— Eliza Goodpasture, ARTnews.com, 15 July 2026

Definition of wrongness

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pointlessly

pointlessness

point man

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“Pointlessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pointlessness. Accessed 10 Nov. 2026.

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Synonyms of pointlessness

noun

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