as in futile
producing no results
an unsuccessful attempt to fix the faucet ourselves
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of unsuccessful
Efforts to communicate with MAVEN since then have been unsuccessful, according to an agency release, and NASA officials held a press briefing at today (June 3) to discuss the end of MAVEN's mission.
—
Josh Dinner, Space.com, 3 June 2026
Perez-Serrato has mounted multiple unsuccessful bids for office over the years, including as a recall candidate for governor in 2021.
—Mona Darwish, Oc Register, 3 June 2026
John McBride, 65, is pursuing the 9th Congressional District seat for the second time, following an unsuccessful run for the same position in 2024.
—Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
In an unsuccessful lawsuit against OpenAI and its top executives, Elon Musk, an OpenAI co-founder, claimed the company diverted from its founding mission to make more money.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for unsuccessful
Josh Dinner, Space.com, 3 June 2026
Perez-Serrato has mounted multiple unsuccessful bids for office over the years, including as a recall candidate for governor in 2021.
—Mona Darwish, Oc Register, 3 June 2026
John McBride, 65, is pursuing the 9th Congressional District seat for the second time, following an unsuccessful run for the same position in 2024.
—Madison Smalstig, Sacbee.com, 3 June 2026
In an unsuccessful lawsuit against OpenAI and its top executives, Elon Musk, an OpenAI co-founder, claimed the company diverted from its founding mission to make more money.
—ABC News, 3 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for unsuccessful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsuccessful
Adjective
-
Faced with total defeat, the Democrats finally gave up their futile efforts to undermine the public finance system by blocking Blakeman and agreed to recertify him for matching funds.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
29 May 2026
-
Harden may be one of the most prolific scorers of all time, but his attempts at winning a championship have been futile.—
Ryan Gaydos,
FOXNews.com,
26 May 2026
Adjective
-
And being a humanitarian, useless.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
31 May 2026
-
The forty-five minutes felt useless; the pre-meeting did not.—
Nell Derick Debevoise Dewey,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
Adjective
-
As children, Vi and Jinx lose their parents in an abortive revolution in Zaun, and years later find themselves on opposite sides of an unfolding power struggle between the two city-states.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
22 May 2026
-
Those forces have remained in the country, albeit now with more direct control from the Kremlin (after Wagner’s bombastic chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led an abortive coup against Moscow and paid the ultimate price for it).—
Ilan Berman,
Forbes.com,
11 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsuccessful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsuccessful. Accessed 7 Jun. 2026.
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