| Library / English Dictionary |
UNAVAILING
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Producing no result or effect
Example:
an unavailing attempt
Synonyms:
futile; ineffectual; meaningless; otiose; unavailing
Classified under:
Similar:
useless (having no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully)
Context examples:
Now she remembered the little umbrella, which she had forgotten to take in her hurry to be off, but regret was unavailing, and nothing could be done but borrow one or submit to a drenching.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
If I rang the bell impatiently, after half-a-dozen unavailing modest pulls, and she appeared at last—which was not by any means to be relied upon—she would appear with a reproachful aspect, sink breathless on a chair near the door, lay her hand upon her nankeen bosom, and become so ill, that I was glad, at any sacrifice of brandy or anything else, to get rid of her.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
