Meanings
comparative more futilitarian · superlative most futilitarian
- Having the opinion that all human activity is futile.
In America the silence was more oppressive than the ignorance; but perhaps elsewhere the world might still hide some haunt of futilitarian silence where content reigned—although long search had not revealed it—and so the pilgrimage began anew!
1918, Henry Adams, The Education of Henry Adams
plural futilitarians
- A person believing that all human activity is futile.
It is in the region of the Island that most of the battles take place between organized labour and the apostles of free labour. Let there be any industrial trouble of any kind, and down upon the district swoop dozens of fussy futilitarians, to argue, exhort, bully, and agitate generally.
1918 [1915], Thomas Burke, Nights in London, New York: Henry Holt and Company - A person devoted to profitless pursuits.
Origin
Blend of futility + utilitarian c. 1830.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with futilitarian
Cite this entry
futilitarian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/futilitarian
“futilitarian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/futilitarian. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “futilitarian,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/futilitarian.
Source: futilitarian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.