as in aimless
having or seeming to have no purpose or reason
I have to go to another purposeless meeting tonight. purposeless suffering
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Examples 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
-
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
Adjective
-
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) has argued the requirement is meaningless because mail ballots are time stamped upon their receipt by election officials, a position backed by Pennsylvania’s Republican secretary of state.Zach Schonfeld, The Hill, 1 Nov. 2024
-
Without ads, that would be a meaningless statistic.Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 21 Oct. 2024
Adjective
-
Instead of relying on haphazard observations and product claims, the Outside Lab @ CU Denver set up an experiment to find out which travel mug keeps beverages warmest the longest.Adam Trenkamp, Outside Online, 10 Oct. 2024
-
At times, the company seems to police videos primarily in response to public outcry, which makes its decisions inherently haphazard and potentially malleable.Louise Matsakis, WIRED, 2 Mar. 2018
Adjective
-
Over a decade later, the streaming space is filled with entries from major and minor media companies alike.Bruce Gil, Quartz, 8 Nov. 2024
-
Walman is dealing with a minor upper-body injury incurred in the first period of Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks.Curtis Pashelka, The Mercury News, 5 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
Be warned, though: make some extra room in your suitcase for souvenirs, because this little city has a whole lot to offer.Tribune News Service, The Mercury News, 13 Nov. 2024
-
Last month, the White House confirmed that North Korea—a country with few allies and little money—had sent thousands of soldiers to join Russia in its war against Ukraine.Sungmin Cho, Foreign Affairs, 12 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
These latest such initiatives focus on linking cookies to devices and apps, rendering thefts useless.Zak Doffman, Forbes, 3 Nov. 2024
-
Elevators stopped working between floors, stoplights stopped working at intersections and life-saving pacemakers were rendered useless.Mars King, Twin Cities, 30 Oct. 2024
Adjective
-
That aggressive pursuit seems especially pointless in the (still very cryptic) big picture scope that Tsuta displays — the film transporting into 35mm color film, widescreen landscape shots showing dilapidated buildings and other dead things while the rest of nature carries on.Kambole Campbell, IndieWire, 5 Nov. 2024
-
It’s being kept around after in a pointless fashion.Katie Campione, Deadline, 4 Nov. 2024
Adjective
-
The latest consumer price index is expected to show a slight increase for October.Elizabeth Robinson, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
-
The Slack survey found a slight increase in AI usage, up one percentage point between March and August 2024 for US respondents (32% to 33%).Emily Dreibelbis Forlini, PCMAG, 12 Nov. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near purposeless
Cite this Entry
“Purposeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposeless. Accessed 21 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share