as in aimless
having or seeming to have no purpose or reason
I have to go to another purposeless meeting tonight. purposeless suffering
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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 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
-
Nine years after hitting rock bottom with three NCAA bids and a majority of programs in an aimless malaise, the SEC collected on a concerted effort to prioritize the sport.—
Joe Rexrode,
New York Times,
8 Apr. 2025
-
Responding to concerns that the party is somewhat aimless without an official leader, Schumer said Democrats have many talented leaders.—
Allison Pecorin,
ABC News,
18 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Spraying meaningless reactions across your feed does nothing for your business.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
30 Apr. 2025
-
This team might be torn apart in the next few months and forgotten to history, a meaningless row in a basketball reference page.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
In lieu of federal regulation, there was a haphazard patchwork of state and local laws surrounding certain foods pre-1906.—
Lauren Leffer,
Popular Science,
1 May 2025
-
Others may be haphazard power grabs, or may amount to something more.—
Andrew Marantz,
New Yorker,
28 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Three have been discharged, including two who sustained minor injuries while responding to the scene.—
Jasmine Baehr,
FOXNews.com,
3 May 2025
-
The toddlers had suffered puncture wounds and lacerations to their arms and legs, while an 18-year-old woman also had a minor injury to her arm, the release stated.—
Latoya Gayle,
People.com,
2 May 2025
Adjective
-
With that, there is little the GOP dominated Congress can or would do to reign Trump in on this abuse of the Act without a veto proof bill shutting down his initiative.—
Dominic Patten,
Deadline,
4 May 2025
-
His use of a century’s old wartime law to deport undocumented migrants with little or no due process to a notorious prison in El Salvador under scrutiny after the administration deported at least one migrant there by mistake.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 May 2025
Adjective
-
In one sense, Henry is the kind of useless man who creates hard times with his own passivity.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
30 Apr. 2025
-
Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin Like many a controversial Y2K trend, the useless hip belt has made its way back into the sartorial zeitgeist with trendsetters like Emily Ratajkowski and Dua Lipa reviving the aesthetic in recent seasons.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Knights star Jack Eichel and captain Mark Stone have been held pointless in the last two games, which shows how great the Minnesota defense has been.—
Tom Rogers,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Apr. 2025
-
Space tourism is, at best, folly—silly, spectacularly wasteful, pointless by definition.—
Ellen Cushing,
The Atlantic,
15 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
Despite a slight deceleration in the first quarter of 2025, the growth remained positive, with volume and revenue increasing by 1.1% and 1.52% respectively.—
Joseph V Micallef,
Forbes.com,
3 May 2025
-
Several rivers that have been flooded in Northern Texas could see a slight bump in water levels over the weekend, according to the National Water Prediction Service.—
Dinah Voyles Pulver,
USA Today,
3 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purposeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposeless. Accessed 11 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share