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  • Adj.

fruitless

FROOT-lis

Context
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In a fruitless attempt to sew a dress, Megan found herself with a tangled mess of material and thread. Tired of fruitless or unsuccessful endeavors with domestic hobbies, she took up horseback riding. However, because her horse would not even move forward one step, she realized that this, too, was a fruitless or pointless undertaking.

Quiz: What is a fruitless attempt to earn money?

  • It is an effort that has always made you a lot of money in the past.
  • It is a pointless effort that does not earn you any money in the end.
  • It is an effort that others think will fail but actually earns you money.

Memory Hook
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No Fruit, No Blessing Just as a fruitless tree is not a blessing, so too is a fruitless endeavor not blessed.

Examples
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  • The motives for the malicious activity known as click fraud vary widely, but the net effect is the same: advertisers end up paying for fruitless web traffic. — Wired
  • The father of one of the Marines killed this week in Iraq said his son felt the U.S. mission was 'a bit fruitless,' because insurgents always returned after the military flushed them out. — CNN
  • Mr. Benjedid, who flew from Cairo to Libya tonight, has visited seven Arab countries and Iran in a search, fruitless so far, to find a peaceful way of ending Iraq’s seizure of Kuwait. — The New York Times

Word Ingredients
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fruit fruit, enjoyment
-less lacking

A fruitless endeavor is “lacking in fruit or enjoyment” because it is unsuccessful.

Word Theater
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Good Morning America A fruitless search for the garments of a missing girl.
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Word Constellation
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Fruitless