bootless
My aim is to record the events of history, not bootlessly attempt to rewrite them.
I spent many hours bootlessly searching for the perfect velvet jacket.
We ran after the dogs as they pursued the deer bootlessly through the forest.
The other characters in the play try to help her, attempting bootlessly to keep her away from drugs and alcohol.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Useless and futile
adrift
aimless
aimlessly
aimlessness
airy-fairy
fruitlessly
fruitlessness
futile
futilely
futility
negation
no goodidiom
non-viable
nugatory
ornamental
unrealistic
unrealistically
unseriousness
until you are blue in the faceidiom
unviability

You can also find related words, phrases, and synonyms in the topics:

Unsuccessful (people and things)