different between ineffectual vs unused

English

Alternative forms

• ineffectuall (obsolete)

Etymology

in- +? effectual

Adjective

ineffectual (comparative more ineffectual, superlative most ineffectual)

1. Unable or insufficient to produce effect.

   Synonyms: futile; see also Thesaurus:futile

   • 1865, Henry David Thoreau, Cape Cod, Chapter II. "Stage-coach Views", page 16.

     This coach was an exceedingly narrow one, but as there was a slight spherical excess over two on a seat, the driver waited till nine passengers had got in, without taking the measure of any of them, and then shut the door after two or three ineffectual slams, as if the fault were all in the hinges or the latch,—while we timed our inspirations and expirations so as to assist him.

2. Worthless.
3. Weak, indecisive; lacking forcefulness.

Antonyms

• effectual

Related terms

• ineffectualness
• ineffectuality
• ineffectually

Translations

English

Etymology

From un- +? used.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?ju?zd/, /?n?ju?st/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?juzd/, /?n?just/
• Rhymes: -u?zd, -u?st
• Hyphenation: un?used

Adjective

unused (comparative more unused, superlative most unused)

1. (not comparable) Not used.

   Synonyms: mint, new, pristine, virgin

   Antonyms: used, old, preloved, pre-owned, secondhand

2. Not accustomed (to), unfamiliar with.
   • 1985, John Irving, The Cider House Rules: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, ISBN 978-0-688-03036-0; republished as The Cider House Rules, London: Black Swan, 1986, ISBN 978-0-552-99204-6, page 237:

     Oh shut up, Wally, Candy was thinking, although she understood why he couldn't stop babbling. He was unused to an environment he couldn't instantly brighten; he was unused to a place so despairing that it insisted on silence. He was unused to absorbing a shock, to simply taking it in. Wally's talk-a-mile style was a good-hearted effort; he believed in improving the world – he had to fix everything, to make everything better.

   Synonyms: unacquainted (with), unfamiliar with

   Antonyms: acquainted (with), familiar (with)

Usage notes

The second pronunciation (/-u?st/) is used for the “not accustomed” sense (especially in informal speech), and is a devoicing of the terminal /zd/ to /st/ under the influence of the /t/ of the following to. In very informal situations the final stop is often elided completely, leading to the pronunciation of “unused to” as a single word /??n.ju?s.t?/. In formal speech the second (/-u?st/) pronunciation is frequently proscribed in favour of the fully voiced (/-u?zd/) pronunciation, which is acceptable for either sense and is normally used for the “not used” sense in all registers.

Translations

Anagrams

• unsued