as in aimless
having or seeming to have no purpose or reason
I have to go to another purposeless meeting tonight. purposeless suffering
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of purposeless
Marine biologists had thought that the pelvic bones were purposeless in the marine environment, and would eventually disappear given another million or so years of evolution.
—
Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 9 Sep. 2014
But here’s a question: How much longer can the country afford to lure so many of its promising talents into a life of purposeless paper-pushing and legalized economic vandalism that antitrust has become?
—Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 10 May 2022
Religion gives meaning to human lives, which otherwise can feel purposeless.
—WSJ, 21 Dec. 2021
In How To Do Nothing, Jenny Odell talks about how the pursuit of productivity — driven by capitalism, competition, and consumption — has redirected our attention outward, leaving us feeling empty and purposeless.
—refinery29.com, 7 Sep. 2021
Although gender is effectively purposeless—if not irrelevant—in gaming, my brothers reflected society's obsession with forcing others to choose between pink or blue.
—Jamie Valentino, Wired, 22 June 2021
These protests are nearly all disingenuous, false and specious, and meant to utilize fear to continue a tragic and purposeless war.
—Matthew Hoh, CNN, 17 May 2021
In Mazars, Trump may yet be able to convince the lower courts that Congress’s rationale for seeking his financial records is too broad, too partisan, or too purposeless.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 9 July 2020
Well, given the malignant chaos of a purposeless universe, what’s one little false allegation in the scheme of things?
—USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2020
Carl Engelking, Discover Magazine, 9 Sep. 2014
But here’s a question: How much longer can the country afford to lure so many of its promising talents into a life of purposeless paper-pushing and legalized economic vandalism that antitrust has become?
—Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, 10 May 2022
Religion gives meaning to human lives, which otherwise can feel purposeless.
—WSJ, 21 Dec. 2021
In How To Do Nothing, Jenny Odell talks about how the pursuit of productivity — driven by capitalism, competition, and consumption — has redirected our attention outward, leaving us feeling empty and purposeless.
—refinery29.com, 7 Sep. 2021
Although gender is effectively purposeless—if not irrelevant—in gaming, my brothers reflected society's obsession with forcing others to choose between pink or blue.
—Jamie Valentino, Wired, 22 June 2021
These protests are nearly all disingenuous, false and specious, and meant to utilize fear to continue a tragic and purposeless war.
—Matthew Hoh, CNN, 17 May 2021
In Mazars, Trump may yet be able to convince the lower courts that Congress’s rationale for seeking his financial records is too broad, too partisan, or too purposeless.
—Matt Ford, The New Republic, 9 July 2020
Well, given the malignant chaos of a purposeless universe, what’s one little false allegation in the scheme of things?
—USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for purposeless
Adjective
-
Masaki Suda plays Ryosuke Yoshii, a somewhat aimless young man who makes ends meet buying merchandise in bulk from troubled businesses and reselling it online at a substantial mark-up.—
Scott Phillips,
Forbes.com,
1 Aug. 2025
-
The pleasure Warner brings to the exchange reflects just how much his character has transformed from an aimless teen afraid to fail into an adult who recognizes that trial and error are part of life.—
Laura Bradley,
The Atlantic,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Without fairness, the test (and winning) becomes meaningless—and for the rest of us, a huge bummer.—
Lindsey Witmer Collins,
Forbes.com,
7 Aug. 2025
-
The protester specifically said a letter Casten signed that day along with more than 90 other House Democrats, demanding an investigation into starvation reports in Gaza, was meaningless.—
Hank Beckman,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
But the study said many students, parents and school officials felt the roll-out of the policy was haphazard and that enforcement has been inconsistent.—
Scott Travis,
Sun Sentinel,
24 July 2025
-
Economists and trade researchers say the haphazard nature of the trade war is compounding the longer-term pressure on US manufacturing.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
11 July 2025
Adjective
-
While two people are said to have been seriously injured, the others are being treated for minor injuries, according to Xinhua.—
Gabrielle Rockson,
People.com,
7 Aug. 2025
-
In April, the government quietly revoked the visas of thousands of students who had allegedly committed minor legal infractions before abruptly reversing the policy.—
Miranda Jeyaretnam,
Time,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
But with Trump still backing Netanyahu, the Israeli leader has little immediate incentive to alter course.—
Yair Rosenberg,
The Atlantic,
7 Aug. 2025
-
There was a broad perception that López Obrador did little to confront the cartels.—
Jesse Hyde,
Rolling Stone,
7 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Infrastructure is useless without operators who can manage it.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
-
The deals typically provide revenue for the host community while enabling the solar industry to cover essentially useless land with solar panels rather than taking out-of-service farmland, open fields or similar space.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
5 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Sometimes everything just feels completely pointless.—
Lea Veloso,
StyleCaster,
14 Aug. 2025
-
The silence from her network was deafening, and feeding her resume to application portals only to get no response began to feel pointless.—
Amanda Miller Littlejohn,
Forbes.com,
13 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Rivera pushed through her routine, adapting to slight errors and fighting for the landing on the dismount.—
Caroline Price,
Forbes.com,
9 Aug. 2025
-
These intimate scenes in the upstairs bedroom are the most effective of the entire production, even though the slight attempts at audience interaction don’t make much sense in this context.—
Emily McClanathan,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purposeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposeless. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share