Futility
ματαιότηςStrong’s G3153mataiotēs
Appears in 3 verses of the New Testament
In short
Mataiotēs is the Greek word usually translated “futility” and “vanity”. It appears in 3 verses of the New Testament.
“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.”
Meaning
Usually translated “futility” and “vanity”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- futility 2
- of vanity 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Romans 1
- Ephesians 1
- 2 Peter 1
3 books in all.
Related words
Explore in Scripture
Greek dictionary
ματαιότης mataiotēs · futility
ματαιότης, -ητος, ἡ (μάταιος), [in LXX for הֶבֶל, Psa.31:6 39:5 62:9, al., and nearly 40 times in Ec; for שָׁוְא, Psa.25:4, al.; רִיק, etc. ;] vanity, emptiness, frailty, folly: Rom.8:20, 2Pe.2:18; τ. νοός, Eph.4:17 (elsewhere only in Pollux, 6, 134, and Eccl.).† (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “futility” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
FUTIL'ITY, noun
Talkativeness; loquaciousness; loquacity. [In this sense, not now used.]
- Triflingness; unimportance; want of weight or effect; as, to expose the futility of arguments.
- The quality of producing no valuable effect, or of coming to nothing; as the futility of measures or schemes.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.