Fine, functional, but pointless activity (8)
I believe the answer is:
futility
'fine functional but pointless activity' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both human attributes as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe you can see a link between them that I can't see?
'fine functional but pointless activity' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'fine' could be 'f' (abbreviation) and 'f' is found within the answer.
'activity' could be 'utility' (utility is a kind of activity) and 'utility' is found in the answer.
This accounts for all the letters.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for futility that I've seen before include "No prospect of success" , "Uselessness" , "Pointlessness" .)