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
Marine biologists had thought that the pelvic bones were purposeless in the marine environment, and would eventually disappear given another million or so years of evolution.
—
Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 9 Sep. 2014
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
Religion gives meaning to human lives, which otherwise can feel purposeless.
—WSJ, 21 Dec. 2021
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
Well, given the malignant chaos of a purposeless universe, what’s one little false allegation in the scheme of things?
—USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2020
Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 9 Sep. 2014
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
Religion gives meaning to human lives, which otherwise can feel purposeless.
—WSJ, 21 Dec. 2021
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
Well, given the malignant chaos of a purposeless universe, what’s one little false allegation in the scheme of things?
—USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposeless
Adjective
-
Rather than adapting, many boys and men are left confused, resentful and aimless.—
Chuka Emezue,
Chicago Tribune,
15 June 2025
-
Too many of his dribbles were aimless or ended in backwards passes.—
Carl Anka,
New York Times,
9 June 2025
Adjective
-
The Americans face Haiti in a meaningless group-stage match Sunday before awaiting their yet-unknown quarters foe. 6.—
Greg Cote
June 22,
Miami Herald,
22 June 2025
-
If the packaging is inaccessible, the exemption is meaningless.—
Bill Schiffmiller,
Forbes.com,
19 June 2025
Adjective
-
Both shows just burn through villains in the most haphazard and jarring way, never really allowing for any of them to build up into something truly threatening, let alone interesting enough to carry the mantle of Big Bad.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
22 June 2025
-
That fact was evident not only in the casualties and hostage-taking during the massacre, but in the grinding, brutal, and haphazard war in Gaza that has followed.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
13 June 2025
Adjective
-
Show more And on Monday, hospital staff accomplished a minor medical feat: doctors birthed triplets in a cesarean section procedure that the delivering physician said would have been complicated and risky even in the best of times.—
NBC News,
NBC news,
20 June 2025
-
There were some minor disadvantages to this method, Boyle admits, mostly due to Apple’s user-friendly camera software.—
Jake Kleinman,
Wired News,
20 June 2025
Adjective
-
The issue passed with opposition from Republicans and 18 skeptical Democrats in the House but with relatively little public outcry.—
Staff report,
Hartford Courant,
23 June 2025
-
Presidents have relatively little influence on oil and gasoline prices generally.—
Rachel Frazin,
The Hill,
23 June 2025
Adjective
-
However, disciplined conduct on the part of the activists and the intervention of other bystanders renders the attacks useless.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 June 2025
-
Pine needles mixed with all the other fine debris rendered the guards useless.—
Tim Carter,
Hartford Courant,
14 June 2025
Adjective
-
As commencement ceremonies celebrate the promise of a new generation of graduates, one question looms: will AI make their education pointless?—
Erik Otárola-Castillo,
Time,
7 June 2025
-
At the bottom, Greece got the unwanted record of being the only pointless team in the top two divisions of the Nations League.—
Neel Shelat,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
Adjective
-
Advertisement Even with such protections, the slightest communication advantage is worrying in the wrong hands, especially when deployed at a mass scale.—
Andrew Luttrell,
Time,
24 June 2025
-
This was a shift from May, when Democrats had a slight advantage—48 percent planned to support Democrats, while 45 percent leaned toward Republicans, according to the pollster.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purposeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposeless. Accessed 3 Jul. 2025.
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