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Glite Dictionary
to bang one's head against a brick wall

to bang one's head against a brick wall

1 8.2
To try many times to do something without success and feel frustrated
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : chocar contra una pared
  • "The experience of applying for funding for taxonomic initiatives," he says, "can be like banging my head against a brick wall."

Examples

  • She spent weeks trying to get the team to agree, but it was like banging her head against a brick wall.

  • I've just been on my own so far, banging my head against a brick wall metaphorically.

    Bickford Shmeckler's Cool Ideas (2006)

  • It's like banging your head against a brick wall.

    Blog text (12)

  • But sometimes it feels like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

    Blog text (27)

  • I'm banging my head against a brick wall here.

    Blog text (3)

  • It may sometimes feel as if you are 'banging your head against a brick wall' when you remind patients of the dangers of smoking, encourage them to consider stopping, and offer support to do so.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Whilst I have been banging my head against a brick wall for years, looking for the ideal development platform, Linux tools and libraries have been quietly maturing under my nose.

    Blog text (5)

  • After several failed attempts to resolve the issue, I realized I was just banging my head against a brick wall.

  • Whenever I try to explain my ideas to him, it feels like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

Synonyms

to fight a losing battle
vsto bang one's head against a brick wall
  • Informal
4 6.5

Try very hard to do something even though you will probably fail

keeps trying but meets repeated failure and growing frustration
to spin your wheels
vsto bang one's head against a brick wall
  • Informal
2 7.9

To waste time and effort without making progress

keeps trying but repeatedly fails to move forward and feels frustrated
to flog a dead horse
vsto bang one's head against a brick wall
  • Informal
1 7.5

To waste effort on something that cannot succeed

keeps making efforts but faces a completely hopeless situation and frustration
to chase one's tail
vsto bang one's head against a brick wall
  • Informal
7.7

To waste time on busy work and make no progress

keeps repeating tasks without progress and becomes increasingly frustrated

Antonyms

to succeed
846 2.0

To reach a goal after trying hard

to making progress
251 2.8

Getting better at a task or skill you are working on

How Fruitless

to bang one's head against a brick wall
  • Informal
1 8.2
to struggle
851 2.8
to persist
62 3.7
to try
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

bang one's head against a brick wall infinitive
banged one's head against a brick wall past
banged one's head against a brick wall past participle
banging one's head against a brick wall present participle
bangs one's head against a brick wall third person singular

Morphology

bang + one + head + against + a + brick + wall

The literal components ('bang', 'head', 'against', 'brick wall') create a vivid image of repeatedly striking an immovable obstacle, which naturally suggests futile effort or frustration. Because this is a metaphorical usage rather than a direct, compositional meaning, a B1 learner would likely infer the general idea but may need figurative reasoning or cross‑linguistic parallels to map it precisely to 'trying repeatedly and failing', so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

Bang one's head against a brick wall comes from the image of someone banging their head on a hard brick wall again and again and getting nowhere. That's why it means 'to keep trying but get no result' or 'to feel very frustrated'.