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"fruitless" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often unproductive (12 letters).
Definitions
unproductive of success
Word origin
Inherited from Middle English fruytles; equivalent to fruit + -less. Compare Middle English withouten fruyt (“fruitless”, literally “without fruit”).
Used in a sentence
“The unskilled man’s attempt at fixing his car engine was fruitless.”
“Here alſo ſprong that goodly golden fruit, / With which Acontius got his louer trew, / Whom he had long time ſought with fruitleſſe ſuit; […]”
“The Ways of Heav’n are dark and intricate, Puzzled in Mazes, and perplext with Errors; Our Underſtanding traces ’em in vain, Loſt and bewilder’d in the fruitleſs Search; […]”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“In vain”9 letters
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