futility
noun
fu·til·i·ty
| \ fyü-ˈti-lə-tē
\
\
plural futilities
Definition of futility
1
: the quality or state of being futile : uselessness
His speech focused on the futility of violence.
2
: a useless act or gesture
the futilities of debate for its own sake— W. A. White
Examples of futility in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The Giants’ lack of scoring and expected runs total puts them around the Toronto and Kansas City levels of futility at near -1.3 runs per contest compared to expected. — Chris Wassel, USA TODAY Sportsbook Wire, "San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers odds, predictions, picks and best bets," 6 Sep. 2019 The helicopter with bucket became a tiny speck in the cloud and his work became an exercise in futility. — Austen Erblat, sun-sentinel.com, "Photographer discusses inspiration and events surrounding photos on display at Palm Beach exhibition," 9 Aug. 2019 The stupefying regularity of these mass killings can inspire a sense of futility, even as the evidence suggests that the political prospects for gun control are shifting. — Michael Luo, The New Yorker, "The Mass Shootings in El Paso and Dayton Should Spur Democrats to Propose Big Ideas on Gun Violence," 4 Aug. 2019 But the bullpen, which now includes David Phelps and Derek Holland instead of Strop, Brandon Morrow and Edwards, makes speculating on the rest of the season an exercise in futility. — Paul Sullivan, chicagotribune.com, "Column: Cubs fans were waiting for the white smoke. Then Theo Epstein delivered Nicholas Castellanos.," 31 July 2019 After years of futility, the Phoenix Suns had the second-worst average home attendance in the 2018-2019 NBA season, with just 15,293 fans in attendance per game. — Jeremy Cluff, azcentral, "Phoenix Suns ranked on list of 12 pro sports teams evidently 'running out of fans’," 22 July 2019 Blackmon’s groundout continued Colorado’s futility with runners in scoring position in San Diego as the Rockies were 0-for-3 on Friday and 3-for-19 overall in the series. — Kevin Henry, The Denver Post, "Padres send Rockies to fourth straight loss," 9 Aug. 2019 Life, for him, was a form of theater, a game doomed to futility. — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, "Artist Hyman Bloom’s body of work is revered. And the bodies are cadavers.," 31 July 2019 Plantation resident Alexis Blokhina broke that streak of futility with a doubles championship with partner Claudia Perez-Garcia, of Puerto Rico, over Madison Smith, of Delray Beach, and Valeria Ray, of Doral, 7-5, 6-0. — Emmett Hall, sun-sentinel.com, "South Florida tennis teens excel on national stage at Frank Veltri Tennis Center," 25 July 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'futility.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for futility
futility
noun
fu·til·i·ty
| \ fyu̇-ˈti-lə-tē
\
\
Kids Definition of futility
: the quality or state of being ineffective
She knew the futility of trying to argue with him.
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