fool's errand

noun

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

fool's errand

noun

1. a fruitless undertaking

Idioms and Phrases

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

Example Sentences

Friends, colleagues, and writers I respected made, I thought, persuasive cases for improving the experience—ignoring Musk altogether, deleting your old tweets—even as others insisted, convincingly, that this was not just a fool’s errand but a dangerous one.

From Slate

N/A Why: In my opinion, it’s not only a fool’s errand to guess, but also foolish to try to game out how the ultimate transition of power will shape up, either way—Trump and his cronies are already planning another coup attempt if he loses, after all.

From Slate

“I think copying any exact model of another team is probably a fool’s errand. We need to be able to do it in our own way.”

From Los Angeles Times

Predicting the future is a fool's errand and we live in bizarre times.

From Salon

In politics, voters get the final word; yelling at them is a fool’s errand.

From Slate

Related Words

• ploy
• smokescreen