Barren vs Futile - What's the difference?
barren | futile | Synonyms |
(label) Unable to bear children; sterile.
Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.
* (1800–1859)
* '>citation
Bleak.
*{{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Michael Arlen), title=
, passage=As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.}}
Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
* (1796-1859)
* (Jonathan Swift) (1667–1745)
* {{quote-news, year=2011, date=September 2, author=Phil McNulty, work=BBC
, title= Mentally dull; stupid.
* (William Shakespeare), (Hamlet), III.ii. ca. 1602
An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.
Incapable of producing results; useless; not successful; not worth attempting.
*
, title=(The Celebrity), chapter=4
, passage=No matter how early I came down, I would find him on the veranda, smoking cigarettes, or
*
*:There is an hour or two, after the passengers have embarked, which is disquieting and fussy.Stewards, carrying cabin trunks, swarm in the corridors. Passengers wander restlessly about or hurry, with futile energy, from place to place.
*{{quote-news, year=2011, date=December 15, author=Marc Higginson, work=BBC Sport
, title=
As adjectives the difference between barren and futile
is that barren is unable to bear children; sterile while futile is incapable of producing results; useless; not successful; not worth attempting.As a noun barren
is an area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.barren
English
Adjective
(en-adj)- I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren ?
- barren mountain tracts
“Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days, chapter=Ep./4/2
- brilliant but barren reveries
- Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter.
Bulgaria 0-3 England, passage=Rooney had been suffered a barren spell for England with only one goal in 15 games but he was in no mood to ignore the gifts on offer in front of an increasingly subdued Bulgarian support.}}
- Set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too.
Synonyms
* sterileAntonyms
* fertile * fruitfulNoun
(en noun)- The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.
futile
English
Adjective
(en adjective)Shamrock Rovers 0-4 Tottenham, passage=Goals from Steven Pienaar, Andros Townsend, Jermain Defoe and Harry Kane sealed the win, but Rubin Kazan's 1-1 draw against PAOK Salonika rendered Spurs' efforts futile .}}