as in futile
producing no results
an unsuccessful attempt to fix the faucet ourselves
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Recent Examples of unsuccessful
The town was unsuccessful in obtaining a state Community Crossings grant for repaving Indian Boundary Road and making other upgrades.
—
Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
The state spent more than $2 million trying to frighten the wolves away from local ranches with drones, rubber bullets and other nonlethal methods, but the efforts of a round-the-clock team of game wardens and scientists were unsuccessful.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 27 Jan. 2026
After some unsuccessful attempts to ease her headache, Avery then underwent a CT scan.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026
The 55-acre lot, once a silent-era movie site and later home to productions like Gilligan’s Island and Seinfeld, will be returned to lenders led by Goldman following months of unsuccessful modification talks.
—Charlie Fink, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unsuccessful
Jim Woods, Chicago Tribune, 27 Jan. 2026
The state spent more than $2 million trying to frighten the wolves away from local ranches with drones, rubber bullets and other nonlethal methods, but the efforts of a round-the-clock team of game wardens and scientists were unsuccessful.
—Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 27 Jan. 2026
After some unsuccessful attempts to ease her headache, Avery then underwent a CT scan.
—Isabella Backman, Hartford Courant, 27 Jan. 2026
The 55-acre lot, once a silent-era movie site and later home to productions like Gilligan’s Island and Seinfeld, will be returned to lenders led by Goldman following months of unsuccessful modification talks.
—Charlie Fink, Forbes.com, 24 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for unsuccessful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsuccessful
Adjective
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Their effort to find a home in Overtown seemed futile until Miami-Dade County Commissioner Keon Hardemon, who grew up in Liberty City, conceived a brilliant idea.—
Dorothy Jenkins Fields,
Miami Herald,
9 Jan. 2026
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But the rally felt less threatening than futile.—
Zach Fisch,
The Atlantic,
6 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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Brown’s statement on Monday was mostly useless corporate-speak.—
Paul Dehner Jr,
New York Times,
6 Jan. 2026
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This tiny amount of copper acts as a molecular steering wheel, preventing sugar molecules from shattering into useless carbon dioxide.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
4 Jan. 2026
Adjective
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The social media profiles of some Moran personnel also show they were linked to Wagner, which was effectively liquidated after its then boss Yevgeny Prigozhin launched an abortive revolt in Russia in 2023.—
Saskya Vandoorne,
CNN Money,
18 Dec. 2025
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Even as Nintendo has endlessly mined its classic consoles for nostalgic re-releases in recent decades, the company has seemed to completely ignore the existence of the Virtual Boy—its abortive 1990s dip into the world of early virtual reality.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Unsuccessful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsuccessful. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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