futile

They fell back on their timeworn, futile tactic of ceding the spotlight to Trump.

"It's sort of futile in a way, it's pointless," he added.

Drumming up enough U.S. consumer interest in food made from waste will require a pitch that goes beyond the increasingly futile message "this is better for the planet."

Add to that the fact that saving for retirement is, in the U.S., a lot of work, and the whole thing seems like a futile exercise.

Two deputies and a jail nurse entered her cell and began resuscitation efforts, but it was futile.