1
as in futility
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2
as in pointlessness
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of uselessness
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uselessness
Noun
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Those two films are commonly described as meditations on the futility of violence in a world where justice takes the form of endless attacks and reprisals.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
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Wembanyama was making his playoff debut against Portland for a franchise and city that is longing for postseason success after six seasons of futility.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Such expeditions can turn into a Buddhistic exercise in enlightened pointlessness.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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His route into that role has been slowed by shoulder injuries and general ineffectiveness.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
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The ineffectiveness of the rule is a fair criticism.—
Greg Cote
Updated March 30,
Miami Herald,
30 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Maybe the meaninglessness is the point.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2026
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But people familiar with OpenAI’s governing documents said that it has been diluted to the point of meaninglessness.—
Ronan Farrow,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Problems shrink into insignificance.—
Shilo Urban,
Travel + Leisure,
22 Nov. 2025
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Her difficulty lay in her distance from the random violence of insignificance.—
Rachel Cusk,
New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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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
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All this inanity takes place over the course of a handful of days, during which no one ever seems to change clothes.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Inner emptiness has always been a fixation of Ye.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
1 Apr. 2026
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While fans would have surely loved to get any of these songs over the past five years in lieu of the chaos of 2020s-era Ye, there’s still an emptiness at the heart of Bully.—
Jeff Ihaza,
Rolling Stone,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Uselessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uselessness. Accessed 21 Apr. 2026.
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