as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
disappointed to discover that the mare was unfruitful
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unfruitful
But his administration’s efforts, so far, have been unfruitful.
—
Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 23 Apr. 2025
After a brief and unfruitful stint as a scout for the major league Milwaukee Brewers in the early 1970s, Uecker moved to the radio booth.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Some new grads have expressed frustration with lengthy and unfruitful job searches and questioned whether their work earning a degree was worth it.
—Jamie Merisotis, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
But the chances of the conviction being overturned are slim, and the decision to fight the charges against him to the bitter end—in contrast to Ellison and the other coconspirators—may continue to prove an unfruitful one.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 24 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 23 Apr. 2025
After a brief and unfruitful stint as a scout for the major league Milwaukee Brewers in the early 1970s, Uecker moved to the radio booth.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 16 Jan. 2025
Some new grads have expressed frustration with lengthy and unfruitful job searches and questioned whether their work earning a degree was worth it.
—Jamie Merisotis, Forbes, 30 Oct. 2024
But the chances of the conviction being overturned are slim, and the decision to fight the charges against him to the bitter end—in contrast to Ellison and the other coconspirators—may continue to prove an unfruitful one.
—Joel Khalili, WIRED, 24 Sep. 2024
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfruitful
Adjective
-
Flushing the eye with a sterile saline solution, making sure to get under your eyelids, can be helpful.—
Hannah Yasharoff,
USA Today,
29 Sep. 2025
-
Some participate in sophisticated processes like synthesizing medicine ingredients, while others design software for quality control or specialize in sterile packaging.—
Elaine Parker,
Oc Register,
29 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Together with progress made in other areas, such as finding ways of making Mars warm enough to sustain liquid water, restoring barren environments on Earth could be a key to one day living on Mars.—
Chris Impey,
The Conversation,
23 Sep. 2025
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At the time, only a handful of the university’s buildings were completed and the barren campus lacked landscaping.—
Ron Hasse,
Oc Register,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Over Washington and Havana’s largely fruitless attempts at diplomacy during the Cold War, both parties considered the base as a bargaining chip of sorts, a leverage to pull in the interest of military de-escalation or possible normalization of diplomatic relations.—
Miriam Pensack,
The Dial,
30 Sep. 2025
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Imagine if the federal government sent hundreds of engineers, or teachers, or outreach workers to Portland, instead of a short, expensive, and fruitless show of force.—
Andrew Stanton,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unfruitful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfruitful. Accessed 2 Oct. 2025.
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