as in sterile
not able to produce fruit or offspring
disappointed to discover that the mare was unfruitful
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Recent Examples of unfruitful
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
One social media user argued that, despite her own decision not to listen to Brown’s music, his critics’ efforts to deter others to do the same have largely proven unfruitful.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
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
One social media user argued that, despite her own decision not to listen to Brown’s music, his critics’ efforts to deter others to do the same have largely proven unfruitful.
—Preezy Brown, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfruitful
Adjective
-
Dealing with the horrors of the situation in Gaza within the sterile environment of a call center, its workers are feeling increasingly hopeless, caught in the political crossfire of an escalating situation.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
3 Sep. 2025
-
For the first time, a technological tool seemed to truly understand us—not as a sterile database, but as a conversational partner.—
Avital Pardo,
Forbes.com,
3 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The local Rite Aid was getting ready to shut down, with barren shelves and 75% off all items, while commerce elsewhere in the town of less than 3,000 people wasn’t exactly bustling.—
David Mark,
The Washington Examiner,
5 Sep. 2025
-
While flying a shuttlecraft, she gets sucked into a wormhole and crashes onto a barren moon.—
Adam B. Vary,
Variety,
5 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
But all efforts to apprehend the speedy vehicle’s unidentifiable driver were fruitless.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
-
This not only proves fruitless, but the probes seem to be hastening the closing of the wormhole.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
4 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unfruitful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfruitful. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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