Home › Glossary › Letter A

A Fool's Errand

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A futile or pointless task, often undertaken with no real hope of success; common in narrative poetry to underscore a character’s misguided persistence or the absurdity of human endeavor against overwhelming odds.

Detailed Definition
The phrase describes a journey whose purpose is absurd, impossible, or concealed from the person sent to make it. In poetry, the errand may involve chasing a vanished star, delivering a letter to the dead, or seeking justice from an uncaring throne. Its futility can be comic, tragic, or strangely noble when persistence becomes the journey’s only meaning.
Example
Example in poetry:
Searching for a mythical city without a map becomes a fool’s errand; The old sailor warns that chasing yesterday is a fool’s errand; In the poem, the speaker’s attempt to command the changing seasons is a fool’s errand; Carrying water to the sea is presented as a fool’s errand that reveals the hero’s stubborn hope
Additional Notes
A fool’s errand is a task that is pointless because success is impossible, the goal is unrealistic, or the instructions are misguided. Calling an activity this may criticize wasted effort. Related expressions include wild-goose chase and hopeless mission.
Also Known As
A Wild-Goose Chase A Fruitless Task
Skip to main content