無駄 (むだ)futility; waste; uselessness

futility; waste; uselessnessnoun (common) (futsuumeishi), adjectival nouns or quasi-adjectives (keiyodoshi)

無駄, its kanji, and other words that share them.Open this graph

Kanji in 無駄

無料むりょうfree (of charge); gratuitous
無所属むしょぞくindependent (esp. in politics); non-partisan
無職むしょくwithout an occupation; unemployed
無理むりunreasonable; unnatural
無罪むざいinnocence; being not guilty
無線むせんradio (communication)
有無うむexistence or nonexistence; presence or absence
無償むしょうwithout compensation; without reward
無駄遣いむだづかいwaste (of money, time, etc.); squandering
駄目だめno good; not serving its purpose
下駄げたgeta; Japanese wooden clogs
駄菓子だがしcheap sweets
駄菓子屋だがしやsmall-time candy store
いきがけの駄賃いきがけのだちんtaking the opportunity to do something; doing something incidentally
お駄賃おだちんlittle something; reward
ゆきがけの駄賃いきがけのだちんtaking the opportunity to do something; doing something incidentally

See how 無駄 connects to the rest of Japanese.