aimless

adjective

aim·​less ˈām-ləs 

: without aim or purpose : not having a goal or purpose

… we would not get to sit on the verandah drinking cold beer at the end of the day, starting up aimless conversations with other couples …

—Alexandra Kennedy

Some years, you feel that nothing much is being made except plotless tales about aimless young people wasting time …

—Robin Buss

The wind blew, the shad were nowhere to be found, even steady use of our fish locator and aimless trolling around the lakes failed to provoke a single strike.

—Steve Davis

aimlessly adverb

… whenever they had the chance, he and Zave would climb the steep streets and walk aimlessly beneath the arching trees, looking at the mansions.

—James A. Michener

aimlessness noun

… my friends are all prematurely successful in their worthwhile, absorbing careers, and I am frightening my parents and maybe even myself with my aimlessness.

—Daphne Uviller

Synonyms

• arbitrary
• catch-as-catch-can
• desultory
• erratic
• haphazard
• helter-skelter
• hit-or-miss
• random
• scattered
• slapdash
• stray

Examples of aimless in a Sentence

he enjoyed taking aimless walks through the park

Recent Examples on the Web

But all that realistically aimless setup is worth the payoff, because once the screaming starts, the movie transforms into an arrestingly abstract nightmare, psychedelically splintering time and space and reality around the characters. —A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 30 July 2024

The aimless offenses allowed the Pelicans to go on a 13-0 run and take a 17-point lead after one period. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 29 Oct. 2024

The Cheers alum stars as an aimless widower who goes undercover at a retirement home in the new Netflix comedy A Man on the Inside, which premieres Thursday, Nov. 21 with all eight episodes, TVLine has learned. —Dave Nemetz, TVLine, 28 Oct. 2024

All my favorite creator stories are equal parts ruthless execution and constant aimless experimentation, and Dimoldenberg is a perfect example of both. —David Pierce, The Verge, 27 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1583, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

aimless

adjective

aim·​less

ˈām-ləs

: lacking a goal or purpose

aimless wandering

aimlessly adverb

aimlessness noun