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futility
" You can't make everybody love you. It's an exercise in futility, and it's probably not even a good idea to try."
Robert Crumb

Meaning of "futility" in the English dictionary

DICTIONARY

PRONUNCIATION OF FUTILITY

fjuːˈtɪlɪtɪ


GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FUTILITY

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Futility is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES FUTILITY MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Definition of futility in the English dictionary

The first definition of futility in the dictionary is lack of effectiveness or success. Other definition of futility is lack of purpose or meaning. Futility is also something futile.



WORDS THAT RHYME WITH FUTILITY

antifertility · contractility · disutility · ductility · erectility · fertility · gentility · infertility · inutility · motility · pulsatility · retractility · sectility · subfertility · subtilty · tactility · tortility · tractility · utility · vibratility

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE FUTILITY

futharc · futhark · futhorc · futhork · futile · futilely · futileness · futilitarian · futilitarianism · futilities · futon · futsal · futtock · futtock plate · futtock shroud · futural · future · future life · future perfect · future tense

WORDS THAT END LIKE FUTILITY

ability · accessibility · availability · capability · compatibility · disability · durability · eligibility · facility · flexibility · functionality · liability · mobility · nobility · possibility · probability · reliability · responsibility · stability · sustainability · visibility

Synonyms and antonyms of futility in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «FUTILITY»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «futility» and belong to the same grammatical category.

Translation of «futility» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF FUTILITY

Find out the translation of futility to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of futility from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «futility» in English.
zh

Translator English - Chinese

无谓
1,325 millions of speakers
es

Translator English - Spanish

inutilidad
570 millions of speakers
en

English

futility
510 millions of speakers
hi

Translator English - Hindi

निरर्थकता
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

عبث
280 millions of speakers
ru

Translator English - Russian

тщетность
278 millions of speakers
pt

Translator English - Portuguese

futilidade
270 millions of speakers
bn

Translator English - Bengali

নিরর্থকতা
260 millions of speakers
fr

Translator English - French

futilité
220 millions of speakers
ms

Translator English - Malay

Sia-sia
190 millions of speakers
de

Translator English - German

Sinnlosigkeit
180 millions of speakers
ja

Translator English - Japanese

無益性
130 millions of speakers
ko

Translator English - Korean

부질없음
85 millions of speakers
jv

Translator English - Javanese

Sia-sia
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

vô dụng
80 millions of speakers
ta

Translator English - Tamil

பயனின்மையை
75 millions of speakers
mr

Translator English - Marathi

निष्फळता
75 millions of speakers
tr

Translator English - Turkish

boşuna oluş
70 millions of speakers
it

Translator English - Italian

futilità
65 millions of speakers
pl

Translator English - Polish

daremność
50 millions of speakers
uk

Translator English - Ukrainian

марність
40 millions of speakers
ro

Translator English - Romanian

inutilitate
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

ματαιότητα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

nutteloosheid
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

meningslöshet
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

nytteløse
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of futility

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «FUTILITY»

Principal search tendencies and common uses of futility
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «futility».

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about futility

EXAMPLES

10 QUOTES WITH «FUTILITY»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word futility.
1
George Carlin
Dusting is a good example of the futility of trying to put things right. As soon as you dust, the fact of your next dusting has already been established.
2
Emile M. Cioran
Since all life is futility, then the decision to exist must be the most irrational of all.
3
Robert Crumb
You can't make everybody love you. It's an exercise in futility, and it's probably not even a good idea to try.
4
Dwight D. Eisenhower
I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.
5
Danny Elfman
So, it becomes an exercise in futility if you write something that does not express the film as the director wishes. It's still their ball game. It's their show. I think any successful composer learns how to dance around the director's impulses.
6
Robert Fripp
My life as a professional musician is a joyless exercise in futility.
7
Cullen Hightower
Worry compounds the futility of being trapped on a dead-end street. Thinking opens new avenues.
8
Brendan I. Koerner
Skyjackers had a pretty abysmal success rate - once you commandeered a plane in American airspace, your odds of a happy ending were slim. After the epidemic ended in 1973, what folks tended to remember most about the skyjackers was their futility.
9
Michael Morpurgo
War continues to divide people, to change them forever, and I write about it both because I want people to understand the absolute futility of war, the 'pity of war' as Wilfred Owen called it.
10
Errol Morris
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it without a sense of ironic futility.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FUTILITY»

Discover the use of futility in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to futility and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
The Wreck of the Titan
Both stories tell the tale of real humans faced with an unfathomable disaster, and the hopes of humankind at the turn of a new century.
Morgan Robertson, 2012
2
The Wreck of the Titan Or, Futility
She was the largest craft afloat and the greatest of the works of men.
Morgan Robertson, 2010
3
Futility Or the Wreck of the Titan
An eerie 1898 story featuring the ocean liner Titan which sinks in the North Atlantic after striking an iceberg. The Titan and its sinking have been noted to be very similar to the RMS Titanic which sank fourteen years later.
Morgan Robertson, 2006
4
When Doctors Say No: The Battleground of Medical Futility
Even if the patient, or the patient's family, insists that everything possible must be done? In this book, philosopher and bioethicist Rubin examines this controversial issue.
Susan B. Rubin, 1998
5
Medical Futility: And the Evaluation of Life-Sustaining ...
A wide-ranging and authoritative survey of the complex issue of futile medical treatments.
Marjorie B. Zucker, Howard D. Zucker, 1997
6
The Beginning of Futility
"Based on half a century of interviews with surviving veterans, research trips to official archives in Vienna, Rome, London, Paris, and Berlin, many visits to the sites of battle, and a close reading of secondary sources, this work takes ...
Gaetano V. Cavallaro, 2009
7
Futility: Easyread Edition
This is a fantastic story of a ship racing across the Atlantic. She was predicted as unsinkable but it collided with an iceberg and brought atrocious loss of life. Robertson has remarkably described the features of luxurious ship.
Morgan Robertson, 2006
8
Medical Futility: A Cross-national Study
This title, however, provides extensive international perspectives on medical futility. This book will benefit healthcare professionals as well as health policy makers around the world.
Alireza Bagheri, 2013
9
Futility Ending in Disaster
"After the Allies had induced Italy to join them against the Central Powers, the Italian Army used the lives of its illiterate peasant fanti as coin advancing to finally endanger Austro-Hungarian defenses.
Gaetano V. Cavallaro, 2009
10
Futility
Futility is a suspenseful thriller that will question the meaning of personal identity at its most basic level, where nothing is as it seems.
Kristen Austgen, 2013

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FUTILITY»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term futility is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Can Joc Pederson End the Dodgers' Home Run Derby Futility?
The Los Angeles Dodgers have a long and storied history in the Home Run Derby. Unfortunately, most of those stories are along the lines of, ... «Baseball Essential, Jul 15»
2
Another exercise in futility
Friday's Modi-Nawaz meeting on the sidelines of the 7th Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit at Ufa in Russia is yet another exercise in ... «The Echo of India, Jul 15»
3
The futility of political debate on social media
In the case of Twitter, it's an opportunity to make a decent point, but the author is hampered by the 140-character limit. So, condensing a ... «The Northern Echo, Jul 15»
4
The Futility and Immorality of Iran Sanctions
HONG KONG -- "We have been trading with Iran for 500 years and the only barrier has been a strip of water. Why would we stop now because ... «Huffington Post, Jul 15»
5
Rangers veering close to home futility streak
Rangers' outfielder Delino DeShields breaks his bat during Wednesday's loss to the Diamondbacks. The Texas offense has struggled at home ... «Fort Worth Star Telegram, Jul 15»
6
Darwin explains the futility of killing insurgents. It makes them more …
Summary: During the past decade we have deployed our most skilled warriors and most advanced technology in an assassination program ... «Fabius Maximus website, Jul 15»
7
Ira Bedzow: Doing Something about medical futility
Medical futility cases have increased as a result of advancing medical technology, and the definition of futility has become more fluid due to the ... «Aspen Times, Jul 15»
8
A Decades Worth of Offensive Futility: Part 1
When you're awake at 2:30 in the morning on a Saturday, it leads to some interesting thoughts. Typically I was sitting down and studying for my ... «Revenge of the Birds, Jul 15»
9
Nicolas Silberfaden's undercover Los Angeles: “A city of ultimate …
It is, he says, “as if we live in a city of ultimate futility, carrying with it the eerie possibility that it might vanish as quickly as it appeared”. «British Journal of Photography, Jul 15»
10
Greek Exercise in Futility
An exercise in futility has just ended in Greece, with its population voting down an offer that has expired almost a week ago already. Given the ... «Smarter Analyst, Jul 15»
REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Futility [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/futility>. May 2024 ».
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