as in aimless
having or seeming to have no purpose or reason
I have to go to another purposeless meeting tonight. purposeless suffering
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Recent Examples of purposeless
Nearly half acknowledged mental health issues, and 34% felt their lack of personal relationships was a factor that contributed to feeling purposeless.
—
Avni Trivedi,
CNN Money,
24 June 2026
The small depression sitting in the middle of their abdomen might seem purposeless, like the body’s own errata.
—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Avoid purposeless arguments online — stick with real-life relationships that need fixing.
—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Apr. 2026
But here’s a question: How much longer can the country afford to lure so many of its promising talents into a life of purposeless paper-pushing and legalized economic vandalism that antitrust has become?
—
Holman W. Jenkins,
WSJ,
10 May 2022
In How To Do Nothing, Jenny Odell talks about how the pursuit of productivity — driven by capitalism, competition, and consumption — has redirected our attention outward, leaving us feeling empty and purposeless.
—
refinery29.com,
7 Sep. 2021
Although gender is effectively purposeless—if not irrelevant—in gaming, my brothers reflected society's obsession with forcing others to choose between pink or blue.
—
Jamie Valentino,
Wired,
22 June 2021
These protests are nearly all disingenuous, false and specious, and meant to utilize fear to continue a tragic and purposeless war.
—
Matthew Hoh,
CNN,
17 May 2021
In Mazars, Trump may yet be able to convince the lower courts that Congress’s rationale for seeking his financial records is too broad, too partisan, or too purposeless.
—
Matt Ford,
The New Republic,
9 July 2020
Avni Trivedi,
CNN Money,
24 June 2026
The small depression sitting in the middle of their abdomen might seem purposeless, like the body’s own errata.
—
Scott Travers,
Forbes.com,
11 June 2026
Avoid purposeless arguments online — stick with real-life relationships that need fixing.
—
Tarot.com,
Baltimore Sun,
6 Apr. 2026
But here’s a question: How much longer can the country afford to lure so many of its promising talents into a life of purposeless paper-pushing and legalized economic vandalism that antitrust has become?
—
Holman W. Jenkins,
WSJ,
10 May 2022
In How To Do Nothing, Jenny Odell talks about how the pursuit of productivity — driven by capitalism, competition, and consumption — has redirected our attention outward, leaving us feeling empty and purposeless.
—
refinery29.com,
7 Sep. 2021
Although gender is effectively purposeless—if not irrelevant—in gaming, my brothers reflected society's obsession with forcing others to choose between pink or blue.
—
Jamie Valentino,
Wired,
22 June 2021
These protests are nearly all disingenuous, false and specious, and meant to utilize fear to continue a tragic and purposeless war.
—
Matthew Hoh,
CNN,
17 May 2021
In Mazars, Trump may yet be able to convince the lower courts that Congress’s rationale for seeking his financial records is too broad, too partisan, or too purposeless.
—
Matt Ford,
The New Republic,
9 July 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposeless
Adjective
-
Liam, once aimless and unhoused, quickly finds purpose in the charade as a husband and father.
-
The book is structured as a quest to figure out why a class of aimless young men in late-Thatcherist Blighty get their kicks out of getting paralytically drunk and bashing one another half to death every weekend.
Adjective
-
Relatively meaningless but still badass.
-
At its core, unlike those meaningless marketing terms, ‘regenerative,’ when used responsibly, is legitimately full of deep meaning and has the potential to make significant human and environmental change when adopted at scale.
Adjective
-
In the early 2000s, especially, Ashley favored haphazard updos, with layers falling from the sides, as seen at the spring 2005 Marc Jacobs show in New York.
-
However, what ends up on screen is interminably dull, both in its visual construction and in its haphazard narrative swerves.
Adjective
-
Messi had been dealing with a minor hamstring injury with Inter Miami that slowed him in the lead-up to the World Cup.
-
Nearly four-fifths of respondents said that gas prices present some sort of strain, with 34% categorizing it as a major strain and 44% calling it a minor strain.
Adjective
-
Yet at the individual and family level, there was little.
-
For example, when the question comes up if a certain weird little alien on a space bus who sounds unmistakably like Seth Rogen is actually Rogen.
Adjective
-
The six Republican appointees said those protections were effectively useless and not binding.
-
Most of the information is useless.
Adjective
-
Less friction for good actors, less room for bad actors, and less pointless duplication for everyone else, all the while protecting platforms from data breaches and litigation.
-
But filming an empty field is pointless.
Adjective
-
There's a marginal risk of severe weather near the Twin Cities, with a slight risk in the central and northwestern part of the state.
-
Man, to see that Curaçao player — in a moment that’s quite important to him, that is earned over so many years of effort — give a slight nod to the invisible man, that warms my heart and brings a smile to my face.
Cite this Entry
“Purposeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposeless. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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