Word for an attempt which you know is useless
What word do you use when you are trying to say that you attempted to do or solve something which you know would most probably fail?
For example, I dropped my Nokia off the highest level of the Eiffel Tower. The screen shattered and the phone could not be turned on anymore. In a [word] attempt, I still tried to repair the phone.
In that example, I am not feeling reluctant. I know it's almost impossible to fix that phone but I'm still giving it a shot. What is the word or feeling that I should use?
From Google's dictionary (search [ define vain ] )
vain /vān/ adjective 2. producing no result; useless. "a vain attempt to tidy up the room" synonyms: futile, useless, pointless, to no purpose, hopeless, in vain; ineffective, ineffectual, inefficacious, impotent, unavailing, to no avail, fruitless, profitless, unrewarding, unproductive, unsuccessful, failed, abortive, for nothing; thwarted, frustrated, foiled; archaic bootless "a vain attempt"
Consider futile
serving no useful purpose : completely ineffective efforts to convince him were futile
Also
- ineffectual
- pointless
- senseless
- unavailing
- fruitless
- absurd
The first thing that springs to mind would be "In a futile attempt, I still ..." or you could also say "ill-conceived" or "desperate " all which have slightly different connotations.