waste of effort
1
3.8
- noun
:
pérdida de esfuerzo
- Many would consider such a search a waste of effort, time, and money.
Examples
-
Most hybrid vegetables have seeds, but saving and replanting them is a waste of effort.
-
But since nobody has any idea where they are, it seems a waste of effort.
-
But since nobody has any idea where they are, it seems a waste of effort.
Academic text (2006) -
That would be a waste of effort and cause pain
Fiction book (1997) -
Of those, he needed no reminder, so he judged the show a great waste of effort.
Fiction book (1997) -
Perhaps politics is seen as part of the problem, or perhaps it's just seen as a waste of effort when the real action will take place at the local level.
Blog text (32) -
Fighting inevitable seasonal change is a colossal waste of effort.
Blog text (1) -
Many would consider such a search a waste of effort, time, and money.
Synonyms
133
2.5
An action that will not help
126
2.7
An activity that takes time but does not help you
14
9.9
Work that looks useful but wastes time or money
12
7.2
A task that has no chance of success
4
3.9
An activity that uses your time but does not help you
3
6.3
Tasks that keep you busy but have little real value
3
2.9
An action that uses effort but achieves nothing useful
1
4.4
An attempt that does not get what you want
1
8.4
Tasks given mainly to keep someone busy instead of producing useful results
1
4.3
A thing like time or money that is completely useless and gives no benefit
A rude phrase for something completely pointless and not worth your time
Antonyms
How Worthwhile
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'waste' (useless or inefficient use) combined with 'of' linking to 'effort' yields 'effort used ineffectively' or 'fruitless effort.' The 'waste of X' pattern is a productive, cross-linguistic construction (e.g. Spanish 'pérdida de esfuerzo/tiempo'), so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can reliably infer the meaning.
Etymology
Waste of effort creates a simple picture: imagine pouring your effort into a bucket with a hole so it becomes waste and disappears. So it means an action that gives 'no useful result' or is 'pointless'.