pointlessnessn.
/ˈpɔɪntlᵻsnᵻs/, U.S. /ˈpɔɪn(t)lᵻsnᵻs/ The quality or fact of being pointless; absence of purpose or advantage.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > intelligibility > absence of meaning > [noun]
insolidity1578
emptiness1579
insignificancy1651
no-meaning1672
insignificance1754
inexpression1796
inexpressiveness1815
vacuousness1816
unmeaningness1825
unmeaning1839
pointlessness1845
non-significance1846
meaninglessness1853
unsuggestiveness1858
unexpressiveness1885
nonsense1942
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [noun]
vanityc1325
overvoidnessa1382
unnaitnessa1400
unnaitshipa1400
unprofitablenessc1400
voidnessa1425
vainness1567
futility1623
emptiness1632
idlenessa1650
insignificancy1720
futileness1727
pointlessness1845
1845 Southern Literary Messenger July 446/2 ‘Ballad Fantasies’ are well executed and interest the reader, though they disappoint him by their pointlessness.
1894 H. Drummond Lowell Lect. Ascent of Man 436 It is not the monotony of life which destroys men, but its pointlessness.
1928 T. K. Whipple Spokesmen vi. 118 Desire.., is destructive, devastating, thwarted and made futile by the lack of any means of realization, by the pointlessness of life.
1994 Harper's June 15/1 With any shaggy-dog story like this one, whose point is its pointlessness, people become fascinated by the fact that they are still standing and listening to what apparently is a long, winding circumstantial joke.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1845