futile
/ˈfju.taɪl/adjective
futile is spelled F-U-T-I-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, futile means “Incapable of producing results, useless; doomed not to be successful; not worth attempting” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in futile?
| Letters | 6: F-U-T-I-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.5 times per million words; the 17,342nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is futile?
Futile appears 2.5 times per million words in written English, the 17,342nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce futile?
- UK /ˈfjuː.taɪl/
- US /ˈfju.taɪl/
- US /ˈfju.təl/
Futile has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-futile.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with futile
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of futile
- more futile comparative
- most futile superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does futile mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Incapable of producing results, useless; doomed not to be successful; not worth attempting.
- 2
Insignificant; frivolous.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Futile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense incapable of producing results:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does futile come from?
Borrowed from Middle French futile, from Latin fūtilis.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).