to push water uphill

9.6

Try to do something that is very hard or impossible

idiom

Informal

: luchar contra corriente

Without enough support, getting the new law passed would be like pushing water uphill.

Examples

Trying to change the company's policy single-handedly felt like pushing water uphill.
Convincing her to forgive him was as hard as pushing water uphill.
Don't push water uphill with that plan!
It's like trying to push water uphill to convince him.
Changing his mind about the project felt like pushing water uphill without any allies.
Trying to motivate the team to accept the new strategy was just pushing water uphill.
Negotiating with the stubborn client was like pushing water uphill from the start.

Synonyms

to chase rainbows

vsto push water uphill

Informal

1 8.3

To try to achieve things that are very unlikely or impossible

aims for tasks that are extremely difficult or nearly impossible

to grasp a rope of sand

vsto push water uphill

Archaic

9.9

To try to do something that cannot be done

tries for goals that are very hard or essentially impossible

to boil the ocean

vsto push water uphill

Jargon

9.6

To try to do something too big to finish

tries similarly but emphasises extreme difficulty rather than broad scope

Antonyms

to achieve

∞ 2.3

To reach a goal by effort or skill

to succeed

846 2.0

To reach a goal after trying hard

How Difficult

to push water uphill

Informal

9.6

to fight a losing battle

Informal

4 6.5

uphill battle

Informal

25 6.6

to struggle

851 2.8

to have a hard time

241 3.7

try

Specialized

423 1.0

Surface Forms

push water uphill infinitive

pushed water uphill past

pushed water uphill past participle

pushing water uphill present participle

pushes water uphill third person singular

Morphology

push + water + uphill

The phrase literally combines 'push' + 'water' + 'uphill' to evoke the image of trying to move water against gravity, an inherently difficult or futile action; a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the metaphor of an extremely hard or impossible task. This compositional image is cross-linguistically accessible and follows ordinary semantic composition, so a B1 learner would likely understand the intended meaning without prior exposure.

Etymology

Push water uphill gives a clear image: trying to push water uphill goes against how water naturally flows, so the water just falls back. That's why it means 'to try to do something extremely difficult or impossible'.