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 Instead, its central duo define themselves by their utter and unapologetic uselessness. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uselessness
  1. futility
  2. pointlessness
  3. ineffectiveness
  4. meaninglessness
  5. insignificance
  6. inanity
  7. emptiness
Noun
  • Here on wet-paper-sack corner The Dolphins set a franchise record for pass-rush futility with a fourth consecutive game (dating back to the 2025 finale) without a sack.
    — Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 27 Sep. 2026
  • Here’s a way to frame the display of futility that the Falcons treated their fans to Sunday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
    — Ken Sugiura, AJC.com, 21 Sep. 2026
Definition of futility
Noun
  • Emotions of shame and anger mixed with the sheer pointlessness of it all.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 9 Sep. 2026
  • 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
Definition of pointlessness
Noun
  • What readers are saying The comments express strong opposition to capital punishment, particularly highlighting the botched execution of Christa Pike as an example of its cruelty and ineffectiveness.
    — Victoria Craw, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026
  • However, September continued to showcase the club’s ineffectiveness at the plate.
    — Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 29 Sep. 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
  • In all of the sketchbook entries reproduced here, Ross seems to offer a bridge between the representation of emptiness and the lived sensation of it.
    — Ryan Sullivan, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • The suburbs promise space yet deliver emptiness, critics charge.
    — Daniel Immerwahr, New Yorker, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of emptiness

Browse Nearby Words

useless
uselessness
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Cite this Entry

“Uselessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uselessness. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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