Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
to come to nothing

to come to nothing

6 4.6
Fail to produce any result
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : no dar resultado
  • Without real progress in this regard, the project will come to nothing and dissipate.

Jesus told, like we were talking about earlier, like if it's meant to fail, if it's going to fail, if I'm wrong, it'll come to nothing.

Examples

  • Everything that had gone into making him came to nothing.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • Mary had expected to marry, but it had come to nothing.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • Everything we did to find you came to nothing.

    Kingdom of Gladiators (2011)

  • - But it all came to nothing.

    Hunger (2009)

  • Well, it probably came to nothing then.

    Possession (2002)

  • Why would God go to so much trouble if everything comes to nothing?

    Magic in the Moonlight (2014)

  • But it's come to nothing.

    Goal II: Living the Dream (2007)

  • And I made noises about wanting to move back to LA, but they came to nothing.

    Marriage Story (2019)

  • So far, his constant lobbying for exploration has come to nothing.

    Academic text (2006)

  • After months of negotiations, their project ultimately came to nothing.

Synonyms

to fail
vsto come to nothing
898 1.0

Not succeed in doing something you wanted to do

is expressed as a phrase rather than a single word
to go nowhere
vsto come to nothing
119 4.6

Fail to make progress or get any result

is the same meaning but uses a different phrase
to go up in smoke
vsto come to nothing
  • Informal
18 5.5

Plans or hopes suddenly fail and disappear for good

is failure generally but does not require sudden disappearance
to hit a dead end
vsto come to nothing
8 4.6

Reach a point where you cannot continue

describes ending in failure rather than merely being temporarily blocked
to turn to dust
vsto come to nothing
7 6.6

To be completely ruined and lose all value

is failure in general, not necessarily physical ruin or destruction
to lead nowhere
vsto come to nothing
7 4.8

Fail to give any useful result or make progress

describes the final failure itself rather than the direction of action
to go nowhere fast
vsto come to nothing
  • Informal
3 5.5

Fail to make progress even when you try hard

means to end in failure without implying extra effort or speed
to go in the toilet
vsto come to nothing
  • Informal
1 7.9

To fail completely

describes failure broadly, not limited to plans or efforts
to go empty-handed
vsto come to nothing
1 4.8

Leave a place without getting what you wanted

means failing overall, not only failing to obtain things
to brought to nought
vsto come to nothing
  • Archaic
7.9

Make something fail completely so it has no effect

describes the action ending with failure rather than a final state
to end in smoke
vsto come to nothing
  • Informal
8.1

To fail completely and have no useful result

means failure in general, not always total or dramatic
to go to Nopeville
vsto come to nothing
  • Slang
9.9

Head toward failure with no chance of a good outcome

describes the actual final failure rather than only moving toward it

Antonyms

to succeed
846 2.0

To reach a goal after trying hard

to yield
183 3.6

To produce something, often a profit or result

How Successful

to triumph
60 3.4
to succeed
846 2.0
to fizzle out
  • Informal
8 5.3
to come to nothing
6 4.6

Surface Forms

come to nothing infinitive
coming to nothing present participle
comes to nothing third person singular
came to nothing past
come to nothing past participle

Morphology

come + to + nothing

The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'come' (arrive/reach) + 'to' (into a state) + 'nothing' (no result), i.e. to result in nothing. The resultative 'come to X' construction is common and follows regular compositional patterns, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words should be able to infer the meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Come to nothing creates a simple image: think of a plan that 'comes to' an empty place, because come to means 'arrive at' and nothing means no result. That's why the phrase means 'to fail to produce any result'.