fruitless

adjective

fruit·​less ˈfrüt-ləs 

1

: unsuccessful

a fruitless attempt

2

: lacking or not bearing fruit

fruitlessly adverb

fruitlessness noun

Synonyms

• unsuccessful
• futile
• useless

Choose the Right Synonym for fruitless

futile, vain, fruitless mean producing no result.

futile may connote completeness of failure or unwisdom of undertaking.

resistance had proved so futile that surrender was the only choice left

vain usually implies simple failure to achieve a desired result.

a vain attempt to get the car started

fruitless comes close to vain but often suggests long and arduous effort or severe disappointment.

fruitless efforts to obtain a lasting peace

Examples of fruitless in a Sentence

They made a fruitless attempt to find a solution.

It would be fruitless to continue.

Recent Examples on the Web

Little Ollie consists of a fruitless olive that has been grafted onto a dwarfing rootstock. —Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 20 Sep. 2025

On display near the entrance were three Army workhorses, all of which went into service more than forty years ago and have yet to be replaced despite many billions spent on fruitless research and development. —Seth Harp, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025

After six largely fruitless seasons in New York, Jones looked like — whisper — one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL in Week 1, dicing up the Dolphins for 272 yards and three total TDs. —Luca Evans, Denver Post, 12 Sep. 2025

The two had met many times before in talks that often proved fruitless. —Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 11 Sep. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English fruytles, frutles, from fruyt, frut fruit entry 1 + -les -less

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fruitless

• bootless
• rootless

Kids Definition

fruitless

adjective

fruit·​less ˈfrüt-ləs 

1

: not bearing fruit

2

: producing no good results : unsuccessful

a fruitless attempt

fruitlessly adverb

fruitlessness noun