futile gesture

collocation in English

meaningsoffutileandgesture

These words are often used together. Click on the links below to explore the meanings. Or,see other collocations withgesture.
futile
adjective
uk
/ˈfjuː.taɪl/us
/ˈfjuː.t̬əl/
(of actions) having no effect or ...
See more atfutile
gesture
noun[C]
uk
/ˈdʒes.tʃər/us
/ˈdʒes.tʃɚ/
a movement of the hands, arms, or head, etc. to express an idea ...
See more atgesture

(Definition offutileandgesturefrom theCambridge English Dictionary© Cambridge University Press)

Examplesoffutile gesture

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
But in our judgment success cannot be achieved by theatrical and futile gestures which deceive no one.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
The needs of our children and our responsibilities to them are too important for futile gestures.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
That is what those futile gestures have meant to my county.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
He was very hard on religion but did not make futile gestures to offend religious people.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
I do not believe that that is afutilegestureor a foolish error.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
But such a campaign would be afutilegesture.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
In other words, we think that action on wool textiles would be a totallyfutilegesture.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
We cannot shuffle off all responsibility for our people's future by thefutilegestureof renunciation.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
In the event, most of them have wasted their time, because the boundary commissions have made that activity afutilegesture.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
This is a weak andfutilegesture, which will not help to release the hostages one day sooner.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
At this stage in the conflict, do we need afutilegesture?
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
To waste a substantial part of our limited defence capacity upon this utterlyfutilegestureseems to me quite insane.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
They are afutilegesture.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
What is thefutilegesture?
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Are you not making, at best, afutilegesture, at worst, flinging yourself against something which does not exist?
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
We need afutilegestureat this stage.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Hinton later said it was the mostfutilegestureof the week.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
This was afutilegesture.
From
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Good intentions, both in the thematic and geographical sense, therefore often remain inexcusably empty, futile gestures.
FromEuroparl Parallel Corpus - English
These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.
Want to learn more?
Go to the definition offutile
Go to the definition ofgesture
See other collocations withgesture