fool's errand
Americannoun
noun
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Without the prescribed navigation I was accustomed to in a museum, this became a fool’s errand.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 17, 2026
Attempting to adjust your gold exposure in response to external factors is most likely a fool’s errand.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
Betting against Nvidia has also been a fool’s errand in the past three years.
From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026
Trying to explain journalistic ethics to a lifelong criminal was probably a fool’s errand, but I still tried.
From Slate • Dec. 1, 2025
I had come on a fool’s errand to Estre, hoping for solace.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
