futility

/fju:'tiliti/

Thân thiện

The man felt the futility of trying to push the boulder up the hill.

Definition

Noun: 1. The quality of being useless or having no practical result: The state of being incapable of producing any useful or desired outcome; pointlessness. 2. The quality of being trivial or insignificant: The state of lacking importance, seriousness, or value.

Examples

• Noun:
  • He realized the futility of trying to argue with her.
  • The futility of the war became apparent to everyone.
  • She spoke about the futility of material wealth.

Advanced Usage

• "to demonstrate/prove/show the futility of something": To make it clear that something is useless or pointless.
  • The failed experiment demonstrated the futility of their initial approach.
• "a sense/feeling of futility": A feeling that one's efforts are useless.
  • After the third rejection, a deep sense of futility overwhelmed him.

Variants and Related Words

• Futile (adj): Incapable of producing any useful result; pointless.
  • It was a futile attempt to change the system.
• Futilely (adv): In a pointless or useless manner.
  • He searched futilely for his lost keys.

Synonyms

• Uselessness: The state of being of no use.
• Pointlessness: The quality of having no purpose or goal.
• Ineffectiveness: The state of not producing the intended result.
• Vanity (in the sense of worthlessness): The quality of being worthless or futile.

Antonyms

• Usefulness: The quality of being of practical use.
• Effectiveness: The degree to which something is successful in producing a desired result.
• Productiveness: The quality of achieving a significant amount or result.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• An exercise in futility: An action or task that is completely pointless from the start.
  • Trying to convince him is an exercise in futility.

Học thuật

Noun

1. uselessness as a consequence of having no practical result