Pronounced: prih-ZEN-tuh-muhnt, noun
Notes: I didn’t know this word, but should have guessed better – it’s not that hard to work out
Yesterday’s word
The word futilitarian means, as an adjective
- devoted to futile pursuits
- holding the belief that human striving is useless
It has similar meanings as a noun:
- a person devoted to futile pursuits
- one who believes that human striving is useless
First usage
Our word came into English in the mid-1800s
Background / Comments
Our word sounded to me like a word created in the 1900s, so I was surprised to see that is came about earlier. It is a combination of futile and utilitarian and was coined by English author Robert Southey.
Richard's Vocabulary Word-of-the-Day 