get nowhere

Idioms

Also, not get anywhere. Make no progress, as in I've tried to put this together, but I'm getting nowhere with it. This expression is sometimes intensified as get nowhere fast, as in I tried phoning but got nowhere fast. [Early 1900s] Also see get somewhere; get there.

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.

Eventually Mr. Rosolie and his colleagues open up the Las Piedras Biodiversity Station to visitors and take them on multiweek adventures they can get nowhere else.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 29, 2026

As I started writing “Revenge,” the reason that I ended up calling you, Brian, was because I could get nowhere in terms of interviews with people.

From Salon • Nov. 6, 2023

Exact numbers of victims are hard to come by as investigations often get nowhere, and different studies apply different criteria in counting the dead.

From BBC • Jan. 24, 2022

Thinking he would get nowhere without business courses, he was surprised when a recruiter called him for an interview.

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

Well, I wasn’t gonna stay no place where I couldn’t get nowhere or make something of myself, an’ where they stole your letters, I ast her if she stole it, too, an’ she says no.

From "Of Mice and Men" by John Steinbeck

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023