bootless
adjective
boot·less ˈbüt-ləs 
: useless, unprofitable
a bootless attempt
bootlessly adverb
bootlessness noun
Did you know?
This sense of bootless has nothing to do with footwear. The "boot" in this case is an obsolete noun that meant "use" or "avail." That boot descended from Old English bōt and is ultimately related to our modern word better, whose remote Germanic ancestor meant literally "of more use." Of course, English does also see the occasional use of bootless to mean simply "lacking boots," as Anne Brontë used the word in Agnes Grey (1847): "And what would their parents think of me, if they saw or heard the children rioting, hatless, bonnetless, gloveless, and bootless, in the deep soft snow?"
Synonyms
- abortive
- barren
- empty
- fruitless
- futile
- ineffective
- ineffectual
- inefficacious
- otiose
- profitless
- unavailing
- unproductive
- unprofitable
- unsuccessful
- useless
- vain
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
a bootless effort to get tickets to the sold-out game
Word History
Etymology
boot entry 1 + -less
First Known Use
1559, in the meaning defined above
bootlessness
noun
as in abortiveness
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- abortiveness
- otioseness
- unavailingness
- unprofitableness
- vanity
- unprofitability
- fruitlessness
- inefficaciousness
- deficiency
- ineffectiveness
- ineffectualness
- ineffectuality
- barrenness
- inefficacy
- inadequateness
- inaneness
- emptiness
- inadequacy
- hopelessness
- insufficiency
- meaninglessness
- pointlessness
- futility
- nonsuccess
- setback
- uselessness
- disappointment
- defeat
- collapse
- letdown
- senselessness
- nonachievement
- cropper
- crash
- fizzle
- failure
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- service
- use
- usefulness
- benefit
- utility
- assistance
- advantage
- aid
- success
- account
- mileage
- serviceableness
- avail
- gain
- victory
- help
- value
- serviceability
- relevance
- achievement
- accomplishment
- profit
- fitness
- win
- appropriateness
- applicability
- worth