all for naught

Meaning

1. 1phraseidiom

   Without any useful result; wasted because the effort did not achieve its aim.

   Grammar: Follows a linking verb or sits after a subject: our work was all for naught.

   Patterns

   • be all for naught
   • come to naught

   We trained for months, but it was all for naught when the match was cancelled.

   Her sacrifice was all for naught because the company closed anyway.

   If the data is lost, all that research will be all for naught.

Common combinations

be all for naught

Their efforts were all for naught.

seem all for naught

After the flood, the planting seemed all for naught.

all for naught in the end

The negotiations were all for naught in the end.

work all for naught

Years of work went all for naught.

fear it was all for naught

He feared it had all been for naught.

Synonyms and how they differ

in vain

In vain is common and more neutral; all for naught adds a sense of disappointment.

for nothing

This is plainer and can also mean without payment.

pointless

Pointless is an adjective that judges something, not a phrase that describes lost results.

futile

Futile is more formal and suggests the effort could never have worked.

Opposites

Word family

naught noun

nothing

naughty adjective

badly behaved, though from a different root

nought noun

British spelling of naught, meaning zero or nothing

Commonly confused: all for naught or naughty?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “all for naught”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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