futilely
/ˈfju.təl.li/adverb
futilely is an adverb meaning “In a futile manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled F-U-T-I-L-E-L-Y and has 3 syllables, and it appears about once in every 13 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does futilely mean?
adverb
- 1
In a futile manner.
Near-synonyms: fruitlessly, pointlessly, to no avail, in vain
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce futilely?
- US /ˈfju.təl.li/
- US /ˈfju.tə.li/
- US /ˈfju.taɪl.li/
Futilely has 3 syllables (counted from the pronunciation).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Forms of futilely
- more futilely comparative
- most futilely superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is futilely?
Futilely appears about once in every 13 million words in written English, the 109,062nd 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).
Futilely in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | futilement, en pure perte |
| Portuguese | futilmente |
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 futilely come from?
From futile + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).