How to Use futile in a Sentence

futile

adjective

• All our efforts proved futile.
• The man made a few more futile attempts to rob the store.
  — Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 8 July 2023
• But the new Echo Show is proof that the effort isn't futile.
  — Valentina Palladino, Ars Technica, 8 Oct. 2018
• Then: the futile attempts to find a friend who would take her in.
  — Washington Post, 21 Aug. 2020
• Who knows whether the Charge of the Lance Brigade was the futile and stupid gesture the Sox needed?
  — Paul Sullivan, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2022
• One detainee kicks the bars in a futile attempt to force the door open.
  — Patrick J. McDonnell, Los Angeles Times, 29 Mar. 2023
• The tiger slowly moved its paws in a futile attempt to block the blows.
  — New York Times, 26 July 2019
• On the biggest lot, he soon got stuck in a futile cul-de-sac of trucks.
  — Washington Post, 21 Dec. 2021
• In such a case, resistance is not futile, for the virus that is.
  — Bruce Y. Lee, Forbes, 30 June 2022
• And yet, in the midst of futile attempts to grind out yardage on the ground, the game’s primal Cro-Magnon essence was fun to watch.
  — Gordon Monson, The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 Sep. 2022
• The task must feel futile for Oregon State fans on game days.
  — oregonlive, 29 Sep. 2019
• The futile attempts to comprehend this heinous act, and the hours of hugs and tears, soon gave way to anger.
  — Ted Deutch, Variety, 18 Oct. 2023
• Brekke was called out on the night the ship sank in a futile effort of recovery.
  — David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 27 Dec. 2018
• And the Portuguese during their futile attempts to keep their African colonies in the ’60s and ’70s.
  — Adam Nossiter, New York Times, 21 Aug. 2021
• The efforts to scare off Sam and Jay are heroic but futile.
  — John Anderson, WSJ, 5 Oct. 2021
• Some lessons take a long and seemingly futile amount of time to learn.
  — David G. Allan, CNN, 2 Feb. 2023
• No more spin and no more futile attempts to put toothpaste back in the tube.
  — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 9 July 2024
• His wife Judy and best friend Dan Aykroyd's attempts to get him help were futile.
  — Leena Kim, Town & Country, 24 May 2019
• Hao might have been packing for a life of exile or a futile trip to the airport.
  — Han Zhang, New York Times, 3 Aug. 2023
• Its virtues are too many to count; doing so would be futile.
  — New York Times, 20 Apr. 2021
• Like all good galas, the pomp and circumstance are not futile.
  — Isiah Magsino, Vogue, 29 Sep. 2022
• In the aftermath of the past 12 months, setting such goals feels futile.
  — Mirel Zaman, refinery29.com, 31 Dec. 2020
• The Black Knights scored again later in the quarter, forcing UConn to play a futile catch-up game.
  — Dom Amore, Hartford Courant, 19 Nov. 2022
• His search for that first inmate who read it proved futile.
  — AZCentral.com, 1 Oct. 2020
• After the puck bounced off Mrázek, the Hawks goalie dived in a futile attempt to cover but was too late.
  — Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 14 Dec. 2022
• The race to the bottom on price is futile; the key lies in patient and resilient entrepreneurship.
  — Expert Panel®, Forbes, 29 Nov. 2023
• Any attempt to do so would be futile and why do so anyway?
  — David Browne, Rolling Stone, 3 July 2024
• As for the latter, Pinochet thinks that’s a futile endeavor.
  — David Fear, Rolling Stone, 15 Sep. 2023
• Putting too much effort into trying to change someone will be futile.
  — Eugenia Last, The Mercury News, 26 Sep. 2024
• Defending himself, Musk said it was meant merely to highlight how futile such an endeavor would be.
  — Christiaan Hetzner, Fortune, 8 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 20 Dec 2024