How to Use unfruitful in a Sentence

unfruitful

adjective
  • Past attempts to deliver a new take on the series were unfruitful.
    — Sandra Gonzalez, CNN, 21 Apr. 2021
  • Rookie first-round pick Alex Leatherwood's stint at right tackle was unfruitful and short-lived.
    — Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz, USA TODAY, 13 Jan. 2022
  • Its lease had run out, and negotiations proved unfruitful.
    — Heidi Finley, Charlotte Observer, 21 Nov. 2025
  • But divorce through the courts is nonetheless often prolonged and unfruitful for many women.
    — NBC News, 27 Mar. 2021
  • As this issue has played out, the union and the county have been locked in unfruitful contract negotiations.
    — Joshua Stewart, sandiegouniontribune.com, 14 July 2017
  • The investigation has been unfruitful, and law clerks may now be forced to provide cell phone records and sign affidavits.
    — Fortune, 1 June 2022
  • Or that Salieri once masturbated over his beloved piano in an unfruitful attempt to cure his writer’s block.
    — Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 8 May 2026
  • For years thereafter the cops received hundreds of similarly unfruitful tips.
    — Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 23 Oct. 2022
  • When people think about networking events, a vision of large, crowded and unfruitful gatherings often comes to mind.
    — Alina Dizik, WSJ, 16 Sep. 2023
  • The unfruitful year is in large part due to Georgia’s warming winters, with the first three months of 2023 being the hottest on record in the state.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 26 June 2023
  • The first time proved unfruitful but on the second the elk were browsing past a row of vegetation; Evenson was able to stalk to a position within shooting distance and wait.
    — Paul A. Smith, Journal Sentinel, 21 Oct. 2022
  • Leicester City have again sent scouts to Portugal in an attempt to bring in more talent from the Primeira Liga, but this time suffered an unfruitful trip.
    — SI.com, 16 Feb. 2018
  • Moons are common in our solar system, which has more than 200 natural satellites, but the long search for interstellar moons has largely been unfruitful.
    — Ashley Strickland, CNN, 13 Jan. 2022
  • In the Last Chance Qualifier the following day, the team finished its first run fifth out of the five cars not yet in the race, and a last-minute attempt proved unfruitful.
    — Nathan Brown, The Indianapolis Star, 10 July 2021
  • Trump too has aired frustration with Russian President Vladimir Putin in recent weeks as ceasefire talks have been unfruitful.
    — The Hill Staff, The Hill, 5 June 2025
  • Lately, Ngo has also been seeing more interest from investors as ordinary home buyers grapple with fatigue from unfruitful searches.
    — Lauren Hepler, San Francisco Chronicle, 19 Aug. 2021
  • Homosexual life, by contrast, is one of unfruitful stasis and sterile repetition.
    — Garth Greenwell, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • Indeed, one of the greatest challenges in the field of psychiatry has been that research into the genetics of psychiatry has been — until very recently — largely unfruitful.
    — Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 26 Sep. 2019
  • Perhaps, then, G7 public debt is diverting unfruitful efforts to provide for the future into providing for the elderly instead.
    — The Economist, 31 Aug. 2017
  • Back in 1980, Ashby and Fowler became patients of Mortimer after unfruitful attempts to conceive.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 4 Apr. 2018
  • Even if the #FightForX1 proves unfruitful and fans aren't able to see the 11 come together again, there's a larger statement being said here that fans aren't sitting idly anymore.
    — Jeff Benjamin, Billboard, 15 Jan. 2020
  • And as Lungarini stressed much of 2020, everything in the pandemic is fluid, and projecting a month into the future can often be an unfruitful game.
    — Shawn McFarland, courant.com, 3 Aug. 2021
  • But some clues are available that may help predict what happens when results are tallied Tuesday – though prognostications on the 2016 election proved wildly unfruitful.
    — cleveland, 1 Nov. 2020
  • The announcement follows weeks of unfruitful negotiations with California regulators who are using their waiver as leverage in an effort to fight changes.
    — Chester Dawson, WSJ, 2 Apr. 2018
  • Facing the prospect of a fourth loss in five days, a beleaguered lineup dusted itself off after six unfruitful innings against Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery and put on an audacious fireworks show.
    — Rustin Dodd, kansascity.com, 23 May 2017
  • The dispute escalated after almost three years of contract negotiations proved unfruitful, and railroad workers moved towards a strike over unmet demands for higher pay and better working conditions.
    — Anna Kaufman, USA TODAY, 15 Sep. 2022
  • After three days of unfruitful attempts, the team trying to capture the animal has reached out to biologists and other experts who recommended a machine used underwater to mimic the sound of a baby alligator.
    — Marie Fazio, chicagotribune.com, 12 July 2019
  • The 55-year-old Abramovich was present at several rounds of early and unfruitful peace negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian as a mediator.
    — Derek Saul, Forbes, 6 June 2022
  • President Xi Jinping last week amid growing frustration on the American side that high-level engagement between the two leaders’ top advisers has been largely unfruitful.
    — Aamer Madhani and Jonathan Lemire, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 Sep. 2021
  • Without trust, the Cold War secretary of state believed, diplomatic relations would be unfruitful, doubts among allies would hinder forging a strong common front, and tension-reducing accord would remain hard to come by.
    — Howard Lafranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'unfruitful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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