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fruitless

/ˈfɹutləs/ adjective C1
  1. Bearing no fruit; barren.
  2. Unproductive, useless. (figuratively) · The unskilled man’s attempt at fixing his car engine was fruitless.
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From the library

“They sought even more thoroughly than the august heirs had done, but it was fruitless.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 191 · C1
However, he, like Cæsar Borgia, knew the value of time; and, in order to avoid fruitless toil, he sounded all the other walls with his pickaxe, struck the earth with the butt of his gun, and finding nothing that appeared suspicious, returned to that part of the wall whence issued the consoling sound he had before heard.
The Count of Monte Cristo, p. 260 · C1
It was during these fruitless quests that he, or rather his ally, was seen by peasants, and that the legend of the demon dog received a new confirmation.
The Hound of the Baskervilles, p. 206 · C1

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Words, meanings, pronunciations and translations from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); how common each word is from wordfreq. Made into this dictionary by FluentPlex.