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The quality of producing no valuable effect, or of coming to nothing; uselessness. The futility of this mode of philosophizing. Whewell.

To sift or bolt, to separate the fine or valuable parts of from the coarse and useless parts, or from dros or dirt; as, to garble spices. [Obs.]

ries; brownies; pixies, etc. [Colloq. Eng. & Scot.] -- Good for nothing. (a) Of no value; useless; worthless. (b) Used substantively, an idle, worthless person. My father always said I was born to be a good for nothing. Ld. Lytton. -- Good Friday, the Friday of Holy Week, kept in some churches as a fast, in memoory of…

Of no account; useless; vain; trifling; unprofitable; thoughtless; silly; barren. "Deserts idle." Shak. Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matt. xii. 36. Down their idle weapons dropped. Milton. This idle story became important. Macaulay.

The condition or quality of being idle (in the various senses of that word); uselessness; fruitlessness; triviality; inactivity; laziness.

se to take notice of; to shut the eyes to; not to recognize; to disregard willfully and causelessly; as, to ignore certain facts; to ignore the presence of an objectionable person. Ignoring Italy under our feet, And seeing things before, behind. Mrs. Browning.

ut contents; empty; void of sense or intelligence; purposeless; pointless; characterless; useless. "Vague and inane instincts." I. Taylor. -- In*ane"ly, adv.

An inane, useless thing or pursuit; a vanity; a silly object; -- chiefly in pl.; as, the inanities of the world.

breeding or etiquette; unbecoming; improper; out of place; as, indecorous conduct. It was useless and indecorous to attempt anything more by mere struggle. Burke.

Not effective; ineffectual; futile; inefficient; useless; as, an ineffective appeal. The word of God, without the spirit, [is] a dead and ineffective letter. Jer. Taylor.

Not producing the proper effect; without effect; inefficient; weak; useless; futile; unavailing; as, an ineffectual attempt; an ineffectual expedient. Pope. The peony root has been much commended, . . . and yet has been by many found ineffectual. Boyle.

f power to produce the desired or proper effect; inefficiency; ineffectualness; futility; uselessness; fruitlessness; as, the inefficacy of medicines or means. The seeming inefficacy of censures. Bp. Hall. The inefficacy was soon proved, like that of many similar medicines. James Gregory.

Silly; useless; nonsensical; absurd; foolish. To view attention as a special act of intelligence, and to distinguish it from consciousness, is utterly inept. Sir W. Hamilton.

Useless; unprofitable. [Obs.] Bacon.

Uselessness; the quality of being unprofitable; unprofitableness; as, the inutility of vain speculations and visionary projects.

Old or refuse household stuff; things cumbrous, or bulky and useless, or of small value.

We have our philosophical persons, to make modern and familiar, things supernatural and causeless. Shak. Modern English. See the Note under English.

Of no value or account; worthless; bad; useless. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer. Prov. xx. 14. Go, get you to your house; begone, away! All will be naught else. Shak. Things naught and things indifferent. Hooker.

Without sufficient cause; groundless; cuseless. "Needless jealousy." Shak. -- Need"less*ly, adv. -- Need"less*ness, n.

Of no legal or binding force or validity; of no efficacy; invalid; void; nugatory; useless. Faultily faultless, icily regular, splendidly null, Dead perfection; no more. Tennyson.