1
as in futility
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2
as in pointlessness
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Recent Examples of uselessness
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
Tamerra Griffin, New York Times, 8 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for uselessness
Noun
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Columbus blanked the Blackhawks on their two power-play chances, running their string of futility to 26 man-advantages and 10 games without a goal.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
31 Jan. 2026
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By the end of the season, the Jets had set records for futility, so the firing was warranted — the Jets were the first team to ever go a full season without recording a single interception.—
Zack Rosenblatt,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Such expeditions can turn into a Buddhistic exercise in enlightened pointlessness.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
24 Nov. 2025
Noun
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The Cubs know how important pitcher depth becomes in the postseason after injuries and ineffectiveness compromised their starter options in October.—
Meghan Montemurro,
Chicago Tribune,
7 Feb. 2026
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The state’s policy ineffectiveness is just as troubling.—
Wayne Winegarden,
Oc Register,
1 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In much of government, the line between neutral analysis and policy advocacy is blurry to the point of meaninglessness.—
James Broughel,
Forbes.com,
30 Jan. 2026
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In the work of David Blanchflower and Alex Bryson, previously covered by Fortune, a widespread sense of meaninglessness drives dissatisfaction with work and therefore life.—
Tristan Bove,
Fortune,
29 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Problems shrink into insignificance.—
Shilo Urban,
Travel + Leisure,
22 Nov. 2025
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Her difficulty lay in her distance from the random violence of insignificance.—
Rachel Cusk,
New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2025
Noun
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The music movie tries to capture the insanity and inanity of being a modern celebrity.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
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In fact, Poppick seems determined to prove that submerging yourself in the inanity of the grindset can pay creative dividends.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Kerr and several staffers compared the emptiness around downtown, coupled with the frigid temperatures outside, to feelings that existed during COVID.—
Nick Friedell,
New York Times,
27 Jan. 2026
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Many roads in Austin remained icy on Monday morning and many coffee shops and restaurants echoed the emptiness on the streets with their own temporary closures.—
Matthew Odam,
Austin American Statesman,
26 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Uselessness.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/uselessness. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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