Use"less , a. Having, or being of, no use; unserviceable; producing no good end; answering no valuable purpose; not advancing the end proposed; unprofitable; ineffectual; as, a useless garment; useless pity. Not
to sit idle
with so great a gift
Useless, and thence ridiculous. Milton.
Syn. -- Fruitless; ineffectual. -- Useless, Fruitless, Ineffectual. We speak of an attempt, effort, etc., as being useless when there are in
it inherent difficulties which forbid the hope of success, as fruitless when it fails, not from any such
difficulties, but from some unexpected hindrance arising to frustrate it; as, the design was rendered fruitless by the death of
its projector. Ineffectual nearly
resembles fruitless, but implies a failure of a
less hopeless character; as, after several ineffectual efforts, I at last succeeded.
Useless are all words
Till you have
writ "performance" with your swords.
The other is
for waiving. Beau. & Fl. Waiving all searches into antiquity, in relation to this controversy, as being either needless or fruitless. Waterland.
Even our blessed Savior's preaching, who spake as
never man spake, was ineffectual to many. Bp. Stillingfleet. --
Use"less*ly, adv. -- Use"less*ness, n.
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