blind alley

American  

noun

1. a road, alley, etc., that is open at only one end.

2. a position or situation offering no hope of progress or improvement.

   That line of reasoning will only lead you up another blind alley.

---

blind alley British  

noun

1. an alley open at one end only; cul-de-sac

2. informal a situation in which no further progress can be made

---

blind alley Idioms  

1. A dead end; a position without hope of progress or success. For example, That line of questioning led the attorney up yet another blind alley. This term alludes to a street or alley that has no outlet at one end. [Mid-1800s]

---

Etymology

Origin of blind alley

First recorded in 1575–85

Example Sentences

Once outside, we catch a glimpse of tapping heels ducking down a blind alley and it looks like the back of our crowd.

From Salon • Nov. 8, 2025

Davies said he was just asking people's views, but his predecessor Lord Bourne warned the party against going down a "blind alley".

From BBC • Nov. 28, 2024

“Your moral code has reached its climax, the blind alley at the end of its course,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 14, 2021

Feynman warns in The Character of Physical Law, “because you will get ‘down the drain,’ into a blind alley from which nobody has yet escaped.

From Scientific American • Jul. 24, 2021

Sometimes they are victims of professional narcissism and write as if the reader were interested in every blind alley, fool’s errand, and wild-goose chase they engaged in while exploring the topic.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker