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Glite Dictionary
to go nowhere

to go nowhere

119 4.6
Fail to make progress or get any result
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡoʊ ˈnoʊˌwɛr/
translation icon : no llevar a ninguna parte
  • The negotiations went nowhere, leaving both parties frustrated and without an agreement.
  • seem to go nowhere

And this went on and on, clearly going nowhere.

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Examples

  • She has told me that I'm going nowhere in my life.

  • "Well," Mr. Pope said, "I can see that this is going nowhere."

    Fiction book (2002)

  • We had spent the last 30 minutes and $20 going nowhere.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • If the people affected are not engaged in the process, the work will go nowhere.

    Academic text (1997)

  • And look, let's face it, Micro Strategies was a kind of going nowhere business and he saw a way out.

  • This is going nowhere.

    Play Dirty (2025)

  • Talking like this with Jeanne made me realize that my relationship with Beau would go nowhere.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • But because of INS incompetence and significant opposition from the business community, the project went nowhere.

    Academic text (2002)

  • No more of these long, dragged-out conversations that go nowhere just because someone needs to vent.

    Blog text (9)

  • Despite his efforts, his plans for a new business went nowhere and he had to rethink his strategy.

Synonyms

to hit a dead end
vsto go nowhere
8 4.6

Reach a point where you cannot continue

is about not producing results overall rather than just stopping at one point
to lead nowhere
vsto go nowhere
7 4.8

Fail to give any useful result or make progress

is about failing to make progress rather than ending uselessly
to come to nothing
vsto go nowhere
6 4.6

Fail to produce any result

is the same idea but expressed using different wording
to go nowhere fast
vsto go nowhere
  • Informal
3 5.5

Fail to make progress even when you try hard

is about failing to achieve progress or results without that effort emphasis
to go in the toilet
vsto go nowhere
  • Informal
1 7.9

To fail completely

is a more general failure of progress not necessarily complete ruin
to go to Nopeville
vsto go nowhere
  • Slang
9.9

Head toward failure with no chance of a good outcome

is about actual failure or lack of progress rather than only approaching it

Antonyms

progress
∞ 2.5

Forward change toward a goal or better state

to succeed
846 2.0

To reach a goal after trying hard

How Much Progress

to succeed
846 2.0
to advance
417 3.4
to struggle
851 2.8
to stall
166 4.3
to go nowhere
119 4.6

Surface Forms

go nowhere infinitive
went nowhere past
gone nowhere past participle
going nowhere present participle
goes nowhere third person singular

Morphology

go + nowhere

The sense 'to fail to achieve progress' is a straightforward metaphorical extension of the literal combination 'go' (move) + 'nowhere' (to no place): if something 'goes nowhere' it literally goes to no place, which maps easily onto coming to no result. Because the compositional logic is direct and exists in many languages (e.g. Spanish 'ir a ninguna parte'), learners who know the constituents can usually infer the figurative meaning, but the shift from physical movement to abstract progress means it is not purely literal.

Etymology

The phrase go nowhere paints a simple picture: imagine trying to move but hitting a wall, so you do not go forward and you go nowhere. That's why it means 'to fail to move forward or get results'.