futility.

The inability of an action or effort to achieve anything useful.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• a sense of futility
• the futility of resistance
• utter futility

On the page

Each rejected appeal deepened her sense of futility without ending her determination.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: usually uncountable; countable singular futility, plural futilities only for particular pointless acts. Writing functions: character, evaluation, theme. Commonness: moderately common. Does not imply that effort was insincere.