different between nugatory vs inconsequential

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin n?g?t?rius

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?nju???t??i/

Adjective

nugatory (comparative more nugatory, superlative most nugatory)

1. Trivial, trifling or of little importance.
   • 1872, Benjamin Disraeli, Suez Canal Speech

     I might refer to the general conviction and the common sense of society that such an investment cannot be treated as absolutely idle and nugatory.

2. Ineffective, invalid or futile.
   • 1792, George Washington, Fourth State of the Union Address

     I can not dismiss the subject of Indian affairs without again recommending to your consideration the expediency of more adequate provision for giving energy to the laws throughout our interior frontier and for restraining the commission of outrages upon the Indians, without which all pacific plans must prove nugatory.
3. (law) Having no force, inoperative, ineffectual.
   • 1819, Chief Justice John Marshall, McCulloch v. Maryland (17 U.S. 316)

     The word "necessary" is considered as controlling the whole sentence, and as limiting the right to pass laws for the execution of the granted powers to such as are indispensable, and without which the power would be nugatory.

4. (computing) Removable from a computer program with safety, but harmless if retained.

Translations

English

Etymology

in- +? consequential.

Pronunciation

• (Canada) IPA^(key): /?n?k?ns??kw?n??l/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /?n?k?n.s??kw?n.??l/

Adjective

inconsequential (comparative more inconsequential, superlative most inconsequential)

1. Having no consequence; not consequential; of little importance.

   You will never know the exact atomic time when you started reading this phrase; of course, that's inconsequential.

2. Not logically following from the premises.

Synonyms

• unimportant
• negligible
• trivial
• trifling
• See also Thesaurus:insignificant

Derived terms

• inconsequentiality
• inconsequentially
• inconsequentialness

Translations

Noun

inconsequential (plural inconsequentials)

1. Something unimportant; something that does not matter.