Crossword clues for nugatory
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Nugatory \Nu"ga*to*ry\, a. [L. nugatorius, fr. nugari to trifle, nugae jests, trifles.]
Trifling; vain; futile; insignificant.
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Of no force; inoperative; ineffectual.
If all are pardoned, and pardoned as a mere act of clemency, the very substance of government is made nugatory.
--I. Taylor.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"trifling, of no value," c.1600, from Latin nugatorius "worthless, trifling, futile," from nugator "jester, trifler, braggart," from nugatus, past participle of nugari "to trifle, jest, play the fool," from nugæ "jokes, jests, trifles," of unknown origin.
Wiktionary
a. 1 trivial, trifling or of little importance. 2 ineffective, invalid or futile. 3 (context legal English) Having no force, inoperative, ineffectual. 4 (context computing English) Removable from a computer program with safety, but harmless if retained.
WordNet
adj. of no real value; "a nugatory law"
Usage examples of "nugatory".
His master, on the other hand, scrutinized the murals carefully, and blessed his companions with a running commentary on the Mission of Art, replete with many citations from the ancients, the essential thrust of which was that Paul Gauphin was an arrant alphabetarian, a nugatory neophyte, a coarse catechumen, a posturing parvenu who thought to conceal his blatant ignorance of the classic methods of proportion, line, perspective and portraiture by his extravagant colorism, the which was nothing but a maneuver to dupe his patrons by passing off crudity as primitivism.
This called forth the opposition of Fox, who objected to the motion as nugatory and productive of unnecessary delay.
In desperation, Bondo had even sunk to consulting an alchemist, who filled his palace with unpleasant odors and his ears with gibberish, accomplished nothing, and demanded a purse of gold for his nugatory services.
The natural good traits of the Burman character are almost rendered nugatory by their religion, and the oppressive nature of their government.
Larkin entered pointedly and briefly into Miss Lake's offer, which he characterised as 'wholly nugatory, illusory, and chimerical.
But these regulations would have been impotent and nugatory, had not the licentious nobles been awed by the sword of the civil power.
Rats I had brought up by hand, cosseted since Berry Head, crammed with best double-refined madder in spite of their growing reluctance - and now all is lost, the entire experiment rendered nugatory, utterly destroyed!