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Synonyms

fool's errand

American  

noun

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


fool's errand British  

noun

  1. a fruitless undertaking

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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]


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.

It’s a fool’s errand at this moment to guess where any of this turns out or which party ends up ahead in the remapping effort.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

Betting against Nvidia has also been a fool’s errand in the past three years.

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

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

From MarketWatch • Feb. 24, 2026

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

From Slate • Jan. 30, 2026

But Rosencrantz was not at the ball, for he had been sent by Hamlet on a fool's errand.

From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein

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