ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsFfutile
ISEE/SSATmedium
futile
Meaning: producing no useful result; pointless
futile in a sentence
How futile is used in real sentences:
His attempts to fix the old radio proved futile.
After the third failed attempt, the rescue effort seemed futile.
“Arranging them by date proved futile because Vale had often written over records from much earlier years.”
— from the passage Writing at the Edges
Synonyms for futile
Other words for futile — useless, fruitless and vain — carry the same meaning.
- useless
- fruitless
- vain
Antonyms of futile
Words that mean the opposite of futile:
- effective
- productive
Where it comes from
From Latin futilis 'leaky, worthless'
Memory hook
FUTILE sounds like 'few tiles' — only a few tiles left on the roof, too late to save it.