fool's errand

American  

noun

1. a completely absurd, pointless, or useless errand.

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fool's errand British  

noun

1. a fruitless undertaking

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fool's errand Idioms  

1. A fruitless mission or undertaking, as in Asking the bank for yet another loan was clearly a fool's errand. [c. 1700]

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Example Sentences

According to history, betting against Microsoft’s stock over the longer term has been a fool’s errand.

From MarketWatch

Trying to assign an exact reason to Bitcoin’s collapse can be a fool’s errand, but one risk increasingly cited by short sellers is the rise of quantum computing, S3 said.

From Barron's

And when it comes to healing, understanding the exact contribution to improvement is a fool’s errand.

From Slate

In fact, I hope there’s something freeing in admitting that avoiding the authenticity trap is a fool’s errand because Crockett and other candidates like her can simply stop trying to meet a standard that eludes them.

From Salon

Predicting when a bubble is finally about to burst could be a fool’s errand.

From Barron's

Related Words

• ploy
• smokescreen