English Reference
Noun

futility

n.
C1 Advanced US /fjuˈtɪɫəti/ UK /fjuːtˈɪlɪti/ fu·til·i·ty UK spelling futilities

n.the quality of being useless or having no point. You use this when you feel like your efforts are not making any difference at all.

n.the state or quality of being ineffective, pointless, or incapable of producing a desired result.


SIMPLE

He felt a sense of futility after trying to fix the broken machine.

CONTEXTUAL

The long hours of work felt like a waste of time, leading to a deep sense of futility.

COMPLEX

Despite the team's best efforts, the sheer scale of the disaster rendered their rescue mission a tragic exercise in futility.


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

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry
Origin Latin fūtilitās
Level C1 · Advanced
Frequency Occasional
Updated