different between futile vs prosaic

English

Etymology

From Middle French futile, from Latin f?tilis.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?fju?.ta?l/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?fju.ta?.?l/, /?fju.t?l/
• Rhymes: -u?t?l (US)

Adjective

futile (comparative more futile, superlative most futile)

1. Incapable of producing results; doomed not to be successful; not worth attempting.

Synonyms

• useless, see also Thesaurus:futile

Antonyms

• effectual
• effective
• fruitful

Related terms

• futility
• futilitarian

Translations

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin f?tilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fy.til/
• Rhymes: -il

Adjective

futile (plural futiles)

1. futile

Related terms

• futilité

Further reading

• “futile” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

From Latin f?tilis (“futile, worthless”, literally “that easily pours out”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fu.ti.le/
• Rhymes: -utile
• Hyphenation: fù?ti?le

Adjective

futile (plural futili)

1. futile, frivolous, worthless

Derived terms

• futilmente

Related terms

• futilità

Anagrams

• fluite

References

• futile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Etymology 1

Alternative forms

• futtile

Adverb

f?tile (not comparable)

1. in vain

Synonyms

• frustr?
• in cassum

Etymology 2

Adjective

f?tile

1. nominative neuter singular of f?tilis
2. accusative neuter singular of f?tilis
3. vocative neuter singular of f?tilis

References

• futile in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• futile in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• futile in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

English

Etymology

From Middle French prosaïque, from Medieval Latin prosaicus (“in prose”), from Latin prosa (“prose”), from prorsus (“straightforward, in prose”), from Old Latin provorsus (“straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), from vert? (“to turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *wer- (“to turn, to bend”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /p????ze?.?k/
• (US) IPA^(key): /p?o??ze?.?k/
• Rhymes: -e??k

Adjective

prosaic (comparative more prosaic, superlative most prosaic)

1. Pertaining to or having the characteristics of prose.

   Antonym: poetic

2. (of writing or speaking) Straightforward; matter-of-fact; lacking the feeling or elegance of poetry.

3. (main usage, usually of writing or speaking but also figurative) Overly plain, simple or commonplace, to the point of being boring.

   Synonyms: humdrum, dull, unimaginative; see also Thesaurus:boring

   • 1931, H. P. Lovecraft, The Whisperer in Darkness, chapter 6:

     Their steepness and abruptness were even greater than I had imagined from hearsay, and suggested nothing in common with the prosaic objective world we know.

Related terms

• prosaically
• prosaicness
• prose

Translations

Anagrams

• Caprios, ipocras, picaros