to little purpose
IdiomsExample Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Royal Court's publicists have been discreet about the subject of Joe Penhall's new play, but to little purpose.
From The Guardian • Jun. 30, 2012
Unlike, say, The Turn Of The Screw, where the uncertainty is unsettling, here it just feels as if we are being led along to little purpose.
From The Guardian • Aug. 11, 2010
Tens of thousands more soldiers did go, to little purpose; most of them also escaped although large numbers did not.
From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2010
Often these changes dislocate students and teachers to little purpose.
From Time Magazine Archive
The endlessly turning wheels of oxidation within the mitochondria would turn to little purpose if it were not for this all- important result.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
