How to use ineffectual in a sentence

12 example sentences · adjective

Ineffectual means unable or insufficient to produce effect. Example: “Our group leader proved highly ineffectual, caving to every whim put forth by the other members.”

Examples of ineffectual by meaning

adjectiveUnable or insufficient to produce effect.

Until the recent rash of North London line maps appeared on station billboards in the London area of BR, the service undoubtedly suffered from meagre and ineffectual publicity.1964 July, “News and Comment: The Broad Street-Richmond line”, in Modern Railways, page 17

adjectiveWeak, indecisive; lacking forcefulness.

Our group leader proved highly ineffectual, caving to every whim put forth by the other members.

More sentences with ineffectual

In an underbounded focal group, members feel chaotic, disorganized, dissatisfied, and ineffectual.2010, Clayton Alderfer, The Practice of Organizational Diagnosis: Theory and Methods, →ISBN. From the entry underbounded
The vaporized armor material scatters a DEW beam, rendering it ineffectual.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Weapons: Ablative Armor Codex entry. From the entry ablative
Turbulent flow really stirs things up; laminar flow is surprisingly ineffectual at mixing.2000, Steven Vogel, Cats' Paws and Catapults: Mechanical Worlds of Nature and People. From the entry microperson
On the one hand, there is the danger of ineffectual and often counterproductive conservative handwringing over the crisis.2001, Thomas W. Smith, Revaluing Ethics: Aristotle's Dialectical Pedagogy, page 1. From the entry hand wringing
Clearly, it cannot be consistently maintained that social workers are in all cases both insensitive breakers-up of families and ineffectual bystanders.1991, Bob Franklin, Nigel Parton, editors, Social Work, the Media, and Public Relations, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 77. From the entry breaker-up
Peter Kurth plays the temper-tantrumy, ineffectual emperor well.1976 February 7, Judith Edwards, “‘The Chinese Wall:’ Moving, Unusual Treatment”, in The Burlington Free Press, 148th year, number 38…. From the entry temper-tantrumy
Angry parenting is punitive and ineffectual.1998, Terry M. Levy, Michael Orlans, Attachment, trauma, and healing. From the entry consequence
Such perceived helplessness on the part of the therapist reinvokes the image of the ineffectual parent who could do nothing to protect her child from extreme forms of abuse.1994, Jody Messler Davies, Treating The Adult Survivor Of Childhood Sexual Abuse, →ISBN. From the entry reinvoke
What was in my mind as I waited for sleep and the engines thundered their ineffectual berceuse was the chapter, a brief one, about the Jews.1980, Burgess, Earthly Powers. From the entry berceuse
Laying aside their ineffectual seals of office, ministers and senior party officials could go among the apparently easily led people and counteragitate on their own behalf.1975, Andrew Czartoryski, Education for Power, page 46. From the entry counteragitate

Meaning of ineffectual

adjective Unable or insufficient to produce effect.
adjective Worthless; ineffective.
adjective Weak, indecisive; lacking forcefulness.

Full definition of ineffectual

Questions about ineffectual in a sentence

How do you use ineffectual in a sentence?: Ineffectual is used as an adjective. For example: “Our group leader proved highly ineffectual, caving to every whim put forth by the other members.”
What is a short sentence with ineffectual?: “Angry parenting is punitive and ineffectual.”
What does ineffectual mean?: Ineffectual means unable or insufficient to produce effect.

Adapted from Wiktionary: ineffectual (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use ineffectual in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/ineffectual. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.