Word of the Day: FUTILE

Don't even bother

futile (adj) - producing no effect or achieving nothing; unsuccessful or unimportant [fyoot-l or fyoo-tahyl]

• futility describes any effort that is pointless or useless 

BREAKDOWN: The Latin word futilis meant vain or worthless, but only metaphorically. The more accurate definition would be easily emptied or pouring out easily, as in a leaky vessel that would be futile to try to fill. From this etymology, we can see this word’s connection to the word root FUS-, meaning to pour or melt.

“Nothing is so exhausting as indecision, and nothing is so futile.” —Bertrand Russell

[Our Wednesday Wildcards are fascinating and important words that are not necessarily derived from classical roots.]