as useful as a hole in the head
- idiom
- Informal
:
tan útil como un agujero en la cabeza
- Buying a snow shovel in the desert is as useful as a hole in the head.
Examples
-
That suggestion is as useful as a hole in the head!
-
His advice was as useful as a hole in the head.
-
Another meeting about the same topic would be as useful as a hole in the head.
-
He said a new law like that would be as useful as a hole in the head.
-
She found the extra paperwork to be as useful as a hole in the head.
-
Giving him advice on that topic is as useful as a hole in the head.
-
Saying that will be as useful as a hole in the head for solving the problem.
Synonyms
550
1.0
Not able to do the job it is made for
298
3.0
Has no value or use
157
3.5
Not doing anything useful
133
2.5
An action that will not help
88
5.6
Bad or worthless and often causing trouble
84
6.0
Not likely to work or help
17
3.0
Not giving useful help or advice
7
2.3
Not necessary or useful in a situation
2
6.8
Not useful or worth much
1
9.9
Something that has no real purpose or value
Completely useless in real situations
Having no real use
Completely without help for any task
Not useful and having little value
Not able to do what is needed
Not useful for everyday tasks
Antonyms
How Useful
Surface Forms
Morphology
as + useful + as + a + hole + in + the + head
The phrase is a simile that compares usefulness to 'a hole in the head'; a learner who knows 'hole' and 'head' can infer that a hole in the head is undesirable or pointless, so the comparison signals lack of usefulness. However, the sarcastic, hyperbolic nature and pragmatic inference required to map that literal image to the exact sense 'utterly useless' make the expression not fully predictable from its parts.
Etymology
The saying as useful as a hole in the head comes from a dark joke. A hole in the head would be dangerous and not helpful, so saying something is like that means it is 'utterly useless'.