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
  • On Thursday, Fried wove that history of futility stretching back to 1998 into a rallying cry.
    — Liv Caputo, The Orlando Sentinel, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Raleigh has 17 homers and will likely set a record for follow-up futility.
    — Eno Sarris, New York Times, 25 Aug. 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
  • The biggest discrepancy for Cruz this season compared to his breakout 2025 campaign is the ineffectiveness of his four-seamer.
    — Chris Kirschner, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The states argue that Meta withheld relevant information from users and parents, who might have benefited from knowing the ineffectiveness of the feature and others like it, constituting a violation of consumer protection laws.
    — John Ruwitch, NPR, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of ineffectiveness
Noun
  • Arendt, evidently depressed and convinced of life’s meaninglessness, found his teaching electrifying.
    — David Denby, New Yorker, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Like emo in the early to mid ’00s, the genre marker has been muddied to the point of near meaninglessness.
    — Brendan Menapace, SPIN, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of meaninglessness
Noun
  • The rooms were part of Kusama’s ongoing exploration of self-obliteration and her career-long ambition to create work that provokes a keen awareness of both one’s individual insignificance and place in the wider cosmic system.
    — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Artist Meredith Reynolds believed Platner’s past paled into insignificance when compared with his opponents.
    — David Millward, The Washington Examiner, 7 June 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
  • Markets have seen through the emptiness of Bessent’s remedy, as ‘bond vigilantes’ have driven bond yields even higher despite Bessent’s band-aids.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 10 Sep. 2026
  • Drugs ravaged the streets, leaving needles and even more emptiness in their wake.
    — Vinson Cunningham, New Yorker, 7 Sep. 2026
Definition of emptiness

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Cite this Entry

“Uselessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uselessness. Accessed 13 Sep. 2026.

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