futility

CEFRC1

/fjuːˈtɪlɪti/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    The quality of having no useful result.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    Something, especially an act, that is futile.

Examples

  • Tom was overcome with a sense of futility.

  • His taking the bar exam for a third time was pure futility.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
3
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meaning

  1. The quality of being futile or useless.

More examples

In context

  • an exercise of futility

  • “Has my dad come?” he asked. “You can see he hasn’t,” said Mrs. Morel, cross with the futility of the question.

  • But fashion and authority apart, and bringing Plato to the test of reason, take from him, his sophisms, futilities, and incomprehensibilities, and what remains?

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He finally understood the blank of arguing with someone who refused to listen.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From Latin fūtilitās (“worthlessness, futility”). By surface analysis, futile + -ity.