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
Its lease had run out, and negotiations proved unfruitful.
—
Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 21 Nov. 2025
That’s one investment that has proved rather unfruitful so far, although things appear to be looking up for WBD investors currently with company on the auction block and simultaneously preparing to separate its cable operations and studios/streaming into to companies.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2025
Homosexual life, by contrast, is one of unfruitful stasis and sterile repetition.
—Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Trump too has aired frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks as ceasefire talks have been unfruitful.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 21 Nov. 2025
That’s one investment that has proved rather unfruitful so far, although things appear to be looking up for WBD investors currently with company on the auction block and simultaneously preparing to separate its cable operations and studios/streaming into to companies.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 29 Oct. 2025
Homosexual life, by contrast, is one of unfruitful stasis and sterile repetition.
—Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
Trump too has aired frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks as ceasefire talks have been unfruitful.
—The Hill Staff, The Hill, 5 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for unfruitful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unfruitful
Adjective
-
The sterile flies are irradiated and released en masse, designed to blanket a region experiencing an outbreak.—
Evan Bush,
NBC news,
7 June 2026
-
American officials are working to expand the use of sterile male screwworm flies to stop the parasites’ spread.—
Eduardo Cuevas,
USA Today,
6 June 2026
Adjective
-
In a barren free-agent class, though, that’s much easier said than done.—
Shayna Goldman,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
-
Called me barren and used up and all that.—
Jamil Jan Kochai,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
Adjective
-
Patients taken to court described baffling bills, confusing health plan rules, and frustrating and fruitless telephone calls to hospital billing offices and health insurers’ customer-service lines.—
Katy Golvala,
Hartford Courant,
1 June 2026
-
With Disney’s stranglehold on the market, such investments might be fruitless.—
HubSpot,
HubSpot,
1 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unfruitful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unfruitful. Accessed 14 Jun. 2026.
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