as in unsuccessful
producing no results
an abortive attempt to recover the sunken pirate ship
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Recent Examples of abortive
Even as Nintendo has endlessly mined its classic consoles for nostalgic re-releases in recent decades, the company has seemed to completely ignore the existence of the Virtual Boy—its abortive 1990s dip into the world of early virtual reality.
—
ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Our main girl, Diva, is a diva down, forced into abortive encounters with the A.I. that stands, literally, between the goods and services supportive of her everyday life.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2025
Garbowit recalls that there were only around sixteen members of Congress lined up behind Thanedor’s abortive resolution—so the fact that Green’s follow-up motion garnered seventy-nine supporters in the caucus is a sign of progress.
—Chris Lehmann, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Netanyahu could also try to replace Halevi with a more pliant chief of the general staff, but doing so would be legally and politically fraught and would likely cause even more public outrage than his abortive dismissal of Gallant.
—Risa Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 9 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for abortive
ArsTechnica, 12 Sep. 2025
Our main girl, Diva, is a diva down, forced into abortive encounters with the A.I. that stands, literally, between the goods and services supportive of her everyday life.
—Lauren Michele Jackson, New Yorker, 23 Aug. 2025
Garbowit recalls that there were only around sixteen members of Congress lined up behind Thanedor’s abortive resolution—so the fact that Green’s follow-up motion garnered seventy-nine supporters in the caucus is a sign of progress.
—Chris Lehmann, Harpers Magazine, 20 Aug. 2025
Netanyahu could also try to replace Halevi with a more pliant chief of the general staff, but doing so would be legally and politically fraught and would likely cause even more public outrage than his abortive dismissal of Gallant.
—Risa Brooks, Foreign Affairs, 9 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for abortive
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abortive
Adjective
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Attempts to get a comment from the district office were unsuccessful.—
Clifford Ward,
Chicago Tribune,
2 Apr. 2026
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Corrections staff attempted life-saving measures but were unsuccessful, according to the MDOC.—
Joseph Buczek,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Catcher Logan O’Hoppe picked it up and then threw it away in a futile attempt to get the out at first.—
Jeff Fletcher,
Oc Register,
29 Mar. 2026
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The latter, a wry comedy of futile endeavor, was based on a story by Kiarostami, but Haghighi soon sought to shake off Kiarostami’s influence—and, even more, a prevailing caricature of Iranian cinema that Kiarostami’s style had given rise to.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
27 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Abortive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abortive. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.
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