4 ms·

When I look it up, it doesn't seem to imply an unintentional effect: > _work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having valu

• jimmywanger 9y ago
  > _work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value_ The verb version is "waste money or time on unnecessary or questionable projects." Basically the project is useless and unnecessary. For textbooks, things are working out very well indeed and just as intended for textbook companies and the professors who write the textbooks that are required for their own classes.