uselessness

noun

1
as in futility

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2
as in pointlessness

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of uselessness The goal isn't to restrict agents into uselessness. — Ajay Pundhir, Forbes.com, 16 Apr. 2026 The fear of uselessness explains why the banker Eric Tao (Ken Leung) leaves a cushy retirement to get back to finance, even at the cost of neglecting his kids. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 2 Mar. 2026 Holding back tears, Marta called out the uselessness of comparing this season to last year’s championship run. — Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2025 Scott has not much to do as the cheerfully dorky dad who takes to Seattle like a duck to water, but his very uselessness is part of the joke and then part of the plot. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uselessness
  1. futility
  2. pointlessness
  3. ineffectiveness
  4. meaninglessness
  5. insignificance
  6. inanity
  7. emptiness
Noun
  • That came after a 2-1 loss to Belgium in 2014 and is part of a long run of futility against European teams.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 30 June 2026
  • But there is an air of futility to the scene, like the coaches are shepherding square pegs into round holes.
    — Rob Picheta, CNN Money, 27 June 2026
Definition of futility
Noun
  • The battle that follows — a muddy and mean scrum — is even more ghastly, partly for its utter pointlessness.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 June 2026
  • Such expeditions can turn into a Buddhistic exercise in enlightened pointlessness.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 24 Nov. 2025
Definition of pointlessness
Noun
  • Whether the Red Sox entertain trade offers for Chapman, who would surely garner a haul even with his recent ineffectiveness, will be one of the biggest questions heading into the deadline.
    — Jen McCaffrey, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Nwodim pointed out that O’Connell has firsthand experience of their ineffectiveness.
    — Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 30 June 2026
Definition of ineffectiveness
Noun
  • The game’s meaninglessness didn’t matter to the raucous sellout crowd that packed SoFi Stadium.
    — Greg Beacham, Chicago Tribune, 26 June 2026
  • The game's meaninglessness didn't matter to the raucous sellout crowd that packed SoFi Stadium — dubbed Los Angeles Stadium by FIFA for the World Cup.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 26 June 2026
Definition of meaninglessness
Noun
  • Artist Meredith Reynolds believed Platner’s past paled into insignificance when compared with his opponents.
    — David Millward, The Washington Examiner, 7 June 2026
  • Problems shrink into insignificance.
    — Shilo Urban, Travel + Leisure, 19 May 2026
Definition of insignificance
Noun
  • But the flight to extremism, and the metastasizing inanity, is a two-party problem, and those of us who are Democrats and who care about the importance of regrowing the dormant (if not dead) political center have an obligation to try to do something about it.
    — Jeffrey Robbins, Boston Herald, 4 May 2026
  • The post-liberals stand for cruelty and inanity, but Brooks can’t admit to standing for much of anything at all.
    — Becca Rothfeld, New Yorker, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of inanity
Noun
  • Here, emptiness is not vacancy, but composure, proportion and room for thought.
    — Spencer Elliott, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026
  • Not even foundations are visible, and a long gravel road toward that part of the island leads past occasional farms and vast swaths of emptiness and then, finally, to a muddy riverbank thick with mosquitos.
    — Andrew Carter, Chicago Tribune, 5 July 2026
Definition of emptiness

Browse Nearby Words

useless
uselessness
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Cite this Entry

“Uselessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uselessness. Accessed 15 Jul. 2026.

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