The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
unfruitful — index barren, disadvantageous, futile, ineffective, ineffectual, nugatory, otiose, unproductive Burto … Law dictionary
unfruitful — (adj.) late 14c., barren, from UN (Cf. un ) (1) not + FRUITFUL (Cf. fruitful). Originally literal; figurative sense is attested from c.1400. Related: Unfruitfully; unfruitfulness … Etymology dictionary
unfruitful — barren, *sterile, infertile, impotent Antonyms: fruitful, prolific Contrasted words: *fertile, fecund … New Dictionary of Synonyms
unfruitful — [unfro͞ot′fəl] adj. 1. not reproducing; barren; unproductive 2. yielding no worthwhile result; fruitless; unprofitable SYN. STERILE unfruitfully adv … English World dictionary
unfruitful — unfruitfully, adv. unfruitfulness, n. /un frooht feuhl/, adj. 1. not providing satisfaction; unprofitable: unfruitful efforts. 2. not producing offspring; sterile: an unfruitful marriage. 3. not yielding good crops; infertile: unfruitful acres. 4 … Universalium
unfruitful — un•fruit•ful [[t]ʌnˈfrut fəl[/t]] adj. 1) not providing satisfaction; unprofitable; unrewarding: an unfruitful search for gold[/ex] 2) not producing offspring; sterile 3) not bearing fruit or harvest; barren: an unfruitful tree[/ex] • Etymology:… … From formal English to slang
unfruitful — adjective Date: 14th century not fruitful: as a. not producing offspring ; barren b. yielding no valuable result ; unprofitable < an unfruitful conference > • unfruitfully adverb • unfruitfulness noun … New Collegiate Dictionary
unfruitful — adjective Of or pertaining to not bearing fruit (usually figuratively). Despite spending two hours looking, her search was unfruitful. Ant: fruitful … Wiktionary
unfruitful — Synonyms and related words: acarpous, arid, barren, celibate, childless, desert, desolate, drained, dried up, dry, effete, exhausted, fallow, fruitless, gaunt, gelded, impotent, ineffectual, infecund, infertile, issueless, jejune, leached,… … Moby Thesaurus
unfruitful — I (New American Roget s College Thesaurus) adj. barren, unproductive, infertile, sterile; fruitless. See uselessness. II (Roget s IV) modif. Syn. barren, fruitless, sterile, arid, blasted, infertile, desert, unprofitable. See Synonym Study at… … English dictionary for students
