fu·tile  (fy t l, fy t īl ′)
Share:
adj. Having no useful result; ineffectual: a futile attempt to renegotiate the contract.
futile·ly adv. futile·ness n.
Synonyms: futile, barren, bootless, fruitless, ineffectual, pointless, unavailing, useless, vain These adjectives mean producing no result or effect: a futile effort; barren research; bootless entreaties; fruitless labors; ineffectual treatments; pointless comments; an unavailing attempt; a useless discussion; vain regrets. |
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2019 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices
Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:
Indo-European Roots
Semitic Roots
The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.
This website is best viewed in Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari. Some characters in pronunciations and etymologies cannot be displayed properly in Internet Explorer.