as in futile
producing no results
an unsuccessful attempt to fix the faucet ourselves
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Recent Examples of unsuccessful
During the most recent campaign, and in a previous unsuccessful run for mayor, Laesch claimed Irvin prioritized government contracts or incentives to those who donated to his campaign — a claim which Irvin consistently denied.
—
Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2026
Gates said Epstein was unsuccessful in his effort.
—Ava Berger, NPR, 10 June 2026
While several lawsuits against parental involvement laws have emerged in the wake of the Dobbs decision, these legal challenges have largely been unsuccessful.
—Sunaya Krishnapura, STAT, 10 June 2026
California has a history of unsuccessful self-funders.
—Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for unsuccessful
Molly Morrow, Chicago Tribune, 10 June 2026
Gates said Epstein was unsuccessful in his effort.
—Ava Berger, NPR, 10 June 2026
While several lawsuits against parental involvement laws have emerged in the wake of the Dobbs decision, these legal challenges have largely been unsuccessful.
—Sunaya Krishnapura, STAT, 10 June 2026
California has a history of unsuccessful self-funders.
—Seema Mehta, Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for unsuccessful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for unsuccessful
Adjective
-
Fahd, cradling his bloodied baby, pressing his hand to Sam’s head in a futile attempt to staunch the bleeding.—
Jeremy Diamond,
CNN Money,
13 June 2026
-
The suit recounts the rapid deterioration — and futile attempts to salvage — what for a long time had been a mutually beneficial professional and artistic partnership.—
Mary Carole McCauley,
Chicago Tribune,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
This playful fourish, although useless in terms of timekeeping, requires 200 of the 646 components in the watch and two engineers had to work simultaneously to ensure the face shield and the movement operated in harmony.—
Paige Reddinger,
Robb Report,
12 June 2026
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Some of us choose to stay away from X, Instagram and the like, so posting a bunch of screenshots with links to additional story info on social media apps is useless.—
Zach Dean OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
12 June 2026
Adjective
-
As children, Vi and Jinx lose their parents in an abortive revolution in Zaun, and years later find themselves on opposite sides of an unfolding power struggle between the two city-states.—
David Faris,
TheWeek,
22 May 2026
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Those forces have remained in the country, albeit now with more direct control from the Kremlin (after Wagner’s bombastic chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, led an abortive coup against Moscow and paid the ultimate price for it).—
Ilan Berman,
Forbes.com,
11 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Unsuccessful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/unsuccessful. Accessed 16 Jun. 2026.
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