Word family noun effect effectiveness ≠ ineffectiveness adjective effective ≠ ineffective effectual ≠ ineffectual verb effect adverb effectively ≠ ineffectively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishineffectualin‧ef‧fec‧tu‧al /ˌɪnəˈfektʃuəl◂/ adjective EFFECTIVEEFFICIENTnot having the ability, confidence, or personal authority to get things done an ineffectual leader She remembered her ineffectual efforts to comfort him. —ineffectually adverbExamples from the Corpus
ineffectual• All of their attempts to come to an agreement has been ineffectual.• He's a nice enough man, but rather ineffectual as a team captain.• The police were completely ineffectual in this matter.• The problems were made worse by the ineffectual political leadership of the coalition. 