naught

American  

[nawt] / nɔt /

Or nought

noun

1. nothing.

2. a cipher (0); zero.

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adjective

1. lost; ruined.

2. Archaic. worthless; useless.

3. Obsolete. morally bad; wicked.

adverb

1. Obsolete. not.

idioms

1. come to naught, to come to nothing; be without result or fruition; fail.

2. set at naught, to regard or treat as of no importance; disdain.

   He entered a milieu that set his ideals at naught.

naught British  

/ nɔːt /

noun

1. archaic nothing or nothingness; ruin or failure

2. a variant spelling (esp US) of nought

3. to have disregard or scorn for; disdain

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adverb

1. archaic not at all

   it matters naught

adjective

1. obsolete worthless, ruined, or wicked

naught More Idioms  

1. see come to nothing (naught).

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Etymology

Origin of naught

before 900; Middle English; Old English nauht, nāwiht ( nā no ¹ + wiht thing). See nought, wight ¹, whit

Explanation

When things come to naught, they've come to nothing. If you feel bad about ending up with nothing, you can also say "It was all for naught!" Have you ever put a lot of work into something and all you ended up with was nada, nil, nothing, zero, zilch, and zip? Then your efforts came to naught. Naught is a word for nothing that is used in specific ways, usually when a project or effort comes to naught.

Example Sentences

But it was all for naught, as Ecgfrith died less than six months after his father.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 21, 2026

I learned from a successful mentor that you can get a lot of things right, but if you don’t get the major trend right, it’s for naught.

From MarketWatch • May 6, 2026

Some in the Iranian capital feared the ceasefire will come to naught, but others declared victory and most breathed a sigh of relief after weeks of bombardment.

From Barron's • Apr. 9, 2026

To add fuel to the barbecue, the deal with Argentina may be all for naught.

From Salon • Nov. 7, 2025

‘Of Éomer I have naught to say,’ he answered.

From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien