as in aimless
having or seeming to have no purpose or reason
I have to go to another purposeless meeting tonight. purposeless suffering
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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
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Her dull, aimless life in Chicago as a cleaner who's stuck with her relatives is the opposite of special though.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
20 Feb. 2025
-
Oh, the delicious irony of Mr. Only the Ivies Count Lest Your Child Fail to Launch having a daughter who’s in an aimless 19th month of a gap year between high school and college.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
21 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The law, after all, is meaningless if no one can enforce it.—
Ian Millhiser,
Vox,
18 Mar. 2025
-
That figure is meaningless, Reyes said, because there was no comparison offered to the deployment rate of servicemembers overall.—
Maureen Groppe,
USA TODAY,
16 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Marta González de la Rubia, an archivist at Loewe who gave me a tour of the facility, told me that in the company’s early decades the retention of samples had been haphazard, and that this was especially true with the company’s packaging.—
Rebecca Mead,
The New Yorker,
17 Mar. 2025
-
The vibrations felt more haphazard, with less granular effects, but loud shots were still met with strong motor bumps.—
PCMAG,
PCMAG,
15 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Even minor decisions had to be run up the church’s chain of command, say former members.—
Guthrie Scrimgeour,
Rolling Stone,
16 Mar. 2025
-
Many sparkling water brands, kombucha makers, and craft sodas favor glass bottles for sustainability and quality—but if not manufactured correctly, even minor defects can lead to unexpected breakage.—
Stephanie Gravalese,
Forbes,
16 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
And despite the dynamic, positive feedback of the recovery, there is little evidence of fresh dollar inflows at this point.—
Guy Petcho,
National Review,
19 Mar. 2025
-
One 2019 study from researchers at Florida Gulf Coast University and West Virginia University found little evidence that CDFI funding significantly boosts small business activity.—
Brandon Kochkodin,
Forbes,
19 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Landing on the Moon comes with numerous complications, including an often-uneven surface and the lack of an atmosphere, rendering parachutes useless.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
18 Mar. 2025
-
This was quite the useless promo, and much of what Rollins said could have been saved for SmackDown.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes,
17 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Organizations like Shopify have eliminated up to 76,500 hours of pointless meetings through similar audits.—
Keith Ferrazzi,
Forbes,
12 Mar. 2025
-
If not, maybe the discussion about K2-18b's habitability is, more or less, pointless.—
Perri Thaler,
Space.com,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
-
Making one bet at a slight little edge is not going to have a huge effect on someone's bracket.—
Ars Technica,
Ars Technica,
20 Mar. 2025
-
Zero Day held a slight lead with 1.84 billion minutes of viewing to 1.81 billion for Reacher.—
Rick Porter,
The Hollywood Reporter,
20 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Purposeless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/purposeless. Accessed 25 Mar. 2025.
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