"pointlessness" meaning in English

See pointlessness in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Audio: en-us-pointlessness.ogg [US] Forms: pointlessnesses [plural]
Etymology: Etymology tree English pointless Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English pointlessness From pointless + -ness. Etymology templates: {{ety|en|:af|pointless|-ness|text=+|tree=1}} Etymology tree English pointless Proto-Germanic *-in- Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ti Proto-Germanic *-ōną Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English pointlessness [Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-ōną", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-inōną", "lang" : "gem-pro" }, { "id" : "-ness", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "id" : "verbal", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "id" : "verbal", "children" : [ ], "status" : "redlink", "lang_name" : "Proto-Indo-European", "term" : "*-dyé-", "lang" : "ine-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-atjaną", "lang" : "gem-pro" }, { "id" : "nominative", "children" : [ { "terms" : [ { "id" : "action noun", "children" : [ ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Indo-European", "term" : "*-tus", "lang" : "ine-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-þuz", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "keyword" : "from" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-assuz", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-Germanic", "term" : "*-inassuz", "lang" : "gem-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Proto-West Germanic", "term" : "*-nassī", "lang" : "gmw-pro" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Old English", "term" : "-nes", "lang" : "ang" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "status" : "ok", "lang_name" : "Middle English", "term" : "-nesse", "lang" : "enm" } ], "keyword_label" : "Inherited from", "keyword" : "inherited" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "-ness", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" } ], "keyword_label" : "From", "is_group" : true, "keyword" : "affix" } ], "lang_name" : "English", "term" : "pointlessness", "status" : "ok", "lang" : "en" }" data-lang="en" data-title="pointlessness"> From pointless + -ness. Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} pointlessness (countable and uncountable, plural pointlessnesses)
  1. (countable) The lack of meaning, purpose, or ideas; the characteristic or condition of being pointless. Tags: countable Synonyms: purposelessness, meaninglessness, uselessness Translations (lack of purpose): sensenceco (Esperanto), turhuus (Finnish), merkityksettömyys (Finnish), bezjēdzība [feminine] (Latvian), bezjēdzīgums [masculine] (Latvian), bezcelowość [feminine] (Polish), бессмы́сленность (bessmýslennostʹ) [feminine] (Russian), despropósito [masculine] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-pointlessness-en-noun-wATeqR8E Categories (other): English entries referencing missing etymons, English entries with etymology texts, English entries with etymology trees, English entries with etymon, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ness, Pages with 1 entry Disambiguation of English entries referencing missing etymons: 64 36 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology texts: 63 37 Disambiguation of English entries with etymology trees: 63 37 Disambiguation of English entries with etymon: 69 31 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 47 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ness: 45 55 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 49 51 Disambiguation of 'lack of purpose': 91 9
  2. (topology, geometry, uncountable) The quality of not mentioning points. Tags: uncountable Translations (in geometry or topology): pisteettömyys (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-pointlessness-en-noun-Ao-85114 Categories (other): Geometry, Topology, English entries with incorrect language header, English terms suffixed with -ness, Entries with translation boxes, Pages using etymon with no ID, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Pages with etymology trees, Pages with etymon, Terms with Esperanto translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Latvian translations, Terms with Polish translations, Terms with Russian translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 53 47 Disambiguation of English terms suffixed with -ness: 45 55 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 35 65 Disambiguation of Pages using etymon with no ID: 41 59 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 49 51 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 33 67 Disambiguation of Pages with etymology trees: 39 61 Disambiguation of Pages with etymon: 41 59 Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 31 69 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 29 71 Disambiguation of Terms with Latvian translations: 28 72 Disambiguation of Terms with Polish translations: 31 69 Disambiguation of Terms with Russian translations: 29 71 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 28 72 Topics: geometry, mathematics, sciences, topology Disambiguation of 'in geometry or topology': 1 99
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: PowerPointlessness Related terms: astigmatism

Inflected forms

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          "text": "Few political careers start when people are in their 70s, but Hendy is actually relishing it, although he is incensed sometimes by the pointlessness of the posturing by the opposition, which keeps him up late. \"The bit I don't like is getting home at 0100 or 0200 in the morning because the opposition have been fruitlessly arguing for a long time.\"",
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        "tree": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nEnglish pointless\nProto-Germanic *-in-\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-yéti\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂ti\nProto-Germanic *-ōną\nProto-Germanic *-inōną\nProto-Indo-European *-dyé-\nProto-Germanic *-atjaną\nProto-Indo-European *-tus\nProto-Germanic *-þuz\nProto-Germanic *-assuz\nProto-Germanic *-inassuz\nProto-West Germanic *-nassī\nOld English -nes\nMiddle English -nesse\nEnglish -ness\nEnglish pointlessness\n[Appendix:Glossary#inherited|Inherited]] from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-ōną\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-inōną\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"-ness\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"verbal\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"verbal\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"redlink\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-dyé-\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-atjaną\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" }, { \"id\" : \"nominative\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"id\" : \"action noun\", \"children\" : [ ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-tus\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-þuz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"keyword\" : \"from\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-assuz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-inassuz\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*-nassī\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"-nes\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"-nesse\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"-ness\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"pointlessness\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"pointlessness\">\nFrom pointless + -ness.",
      "name": "ety"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Etymology tree\nEnglish pointless\nProto-Germanic *-in-\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂\nProto-Indo-European *-éh₂\nProto-Indo-European *-yéti\nProto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti\nProto-Indo-European *-h₂ti\nProto-Germanic *-ōną\nProto-Germanic *-inōną\nProto-Indo-European *-dyé-\nProto-Germanic *-atjaną\nProto-Indo-European *-tus\nProto-Germanic *-þuz\nProto-Germanic *-assuz\nProto-Germanic *-inassuz\nProto-West Germanic *-nassī\nOld English -nes\nMiddle English -nesse\nEnglish -ness\nEnglish pointlessness\nFrom pointless + -ness.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "pointlessnesses",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "pointlessness (countable and uncountable, plural pointlessnesses)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "astigmatism"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Near-synonyms: purposelessness, meaninglessness, uselessness"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              4,
              17
            ]
          ],
          "text": "The pointlessness of the discussion only compounded her boredom.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              86,
              99
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2007 April 8, Allan Kozinn, “The Generation of ’38, Still Kicking”, in The New York Times:",
          "text": "But with unstructured improvisation, the risk that directionlessness will give way to pointlessness is high.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              135,
              148
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "2025 October 1, Christian Wolmar, “Rail Minister at the heart of rail reform”, in RAIL, number 1045, page 35:",
          "text": "Few political careers start when people are in their 70s, but Hendy is actually relishing it, although he is incensed sometimes by the pointlessness of the posturing by the opposition, which keeps him up late. \"The bit I don't like is getting home at 0100 or 0200 in the morning because the opposition have been fruitlessly arguing for a long time.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The lack of meaning, purpose, or ideas; the characteristic or condition of being pointless."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "meaning",
          "meaning"
        ],
        [
          "purpose",
          "purpose"
        ],
        [
          "ideas",
          "ideas"
        ],
        [
          "pointless",
          "pointless"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable) The lack of meaning, purpose, or ideas; the characteristic or condition of being pointless."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "purposelessness"
        },
        {
          "word": "meaninglessness"
        },
        {
          "word": "uselessness"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English uncountable nouns",
        "en:Geometry",
        "en:Topology"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The quality of not mentioning points."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "topology",
          "topology"
        ],
        [
          "geometry",
          "geometry"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(topology, geometry, uncountable) The quality of not mentioning points."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "geometry",
        "mathematics",
        "sciences",
        "topology"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "audio": "en-us-pointlessness.ogg",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/1/1e/En-us-pointlessness.ogg/En-us-pointlessness.ogg.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/En-us-pointlessness.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "lang_code": "eo",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "word": "sensenceco"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "word": "turhuus"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "word": "merkityksettömyys"
    },
    {
      "code": "lv",
      "lang": "Latvian",
      "lang_code": "lv",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "bezjēdzība"
    },
    {
      "code": "lv",
      "lang": "Latvian",
      "lang_code": "lv",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "bezjēdzīgums"
    },
    {
      "code": "pl",
      "lang": "Polish",
      "lang_code": "pl",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "bezcelowość"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "roman": "bessmýslennostʹ",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "tags": [
        "feminine"
      ],
      "word": "бессмы́сленность"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "lang_code": "es",
      "sense": "lack of purpose",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "despropósito"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "lang_code": "fi",
      "sense": "in geometry or topology",
      "word": "pisteettömyys"
    }
  ],
  "word": "pointlessness"
}

Download raw JSONL data for pointlessness meaning in English (8.1kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-09 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (ccec6f1 and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.