Uselessness

Uselessness
Useless Use"less, a. Having, or being of, no use; unserviceable; producing no good end; answering no valuable purpose; not advancing the end proposed; unprofitable; ineffectual; as, a useless garment; useless pity. [1913 Webster]

Not to sit idle with so great a gift Useless, and thence ridiculous. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Fruitless; ineffectual.

Usage: {Useless}, {Fruitless}, {Ineffectual}. We speak of an attempt, effort, etc., as being useless when there are in it inherent difficulties which forbid the hope of success, as fruitless when it fails, not from any such difficulties, but from some unexpected hindrance arising to frustrate it; as, the design was rendered fruitless by the death of its projector. Ineffectual nearly resembles fruitless, but implies a failure of a less hopeless character; as, after several ineffectual efforts, I at last succeeded. [1913 Webster]

Useless are all words Till you have writ ``performance'' with your swords. The other is for waiving. --Beau. & Fl. [1913 Webster]

Waiving all searches into antiquity, in relation to this controversy, as being either needless or fruitless. --Waterland. [1913 Webster]

Even our blessed Savior's preaching, who spake as never man spake, was ineffectual to many. --Bp. Stillingfleet. [1913 Webster] -- {Use"less*ly}, adv. -- {Use"less*ness}, n. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • uselessness — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) Lack of utility Nouns 1. uselessness, inutility; inefficacy, futility; impracticableness, im practicality; inefficiency, impotence; worthlessness, vanity, inanity, unimportance. See unskillfulness,… …   English dictionary for students

  • uselessness — useless ► ADJECTIVE 1) serving no purpose. 2) informal having little ability or skill. DERIVATIVES uselessly adverb uselessness noun …   English terms dictionary

  • uselessness — noun see useless …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • uselessness — See uselessly. * * * …   Universalium

  • uselessness — noun the quality of being useless …   Wiktionary

  • uselessness — Synonyms and related words: bankruptcy, bootlessness, counterproductiveness, counterproductivity, defeat, failure, fatuity, futility, ill success, impoliticalness, impoliticness, inadvisability, inanity, inappropriateness, inaptitude, incongruity …   Moby Thesaurus

  • uselessness — use·less·ness || juːslɪsnɪs n. state of not being beneficial …   English contemporary dictionary

  • uselessness — use·less·ness …   English syllables

  • uselessness — See: useless …   English dictionary

  • uselessness — noun the quality of having no practical use (Freq. 1) • Syn: ↑inutility, ↑unusefulness • Ant: ↑usefulness, ↑utility (for: ↑inutility) …   Useful english dictionary

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