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wild goose chase

wild goose chase
W w

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [wahyld goos cheys]
    • /waɪld gus tʃeɪs/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [wahyld goos cheys]
    • /waɪld gus tʃeɪs/

Definitions of wild goose chase words

  • noun wild goose chase a wild or absurd search for something nonexistent or unobtainable: a wild-goose chase looking for a building long demolished. 1
  • noun wild goose chase any senseless pursuit of an object or end; a hopeless enterprise: Her scheme of being a movie star is a wild-goose chase. 1
  • noun wild goose chase pointless search 1
  • countable noun wild goose chase If you are on a wild goose chase, you waste a lot of time searching for something that you have little chance of finding, because you have been given incorrect information. 0
  • noun wild goose chase an absurd or hopeless pursuit, as of something unattainable 0
  • noun wild goose chase any search, pursuit, or endeavor regarded as being as futile as trying to catch a wild goose by chasing it 0
See all 6 definitions of wild goose chase

Information block about the term

Origin of wild goose chase

First appearance:

before 1585
One of the 35% oldest English words
First recorded in 1585-95

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Wild goose chase

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Full grammatical hierarchy of Wild goose chase

wild goose chase popularity

This term is known only to a narrow circle of people with rare knowledge. Only 27% of English native speakers know the meaning of this word.
According to our data about 75% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

wild goose chase usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for wild goose chase

adj wild goose chase

  • fruitless — useless; unproductive; without results or success: a fruitless search for the missing treasure.
  • gainless — unprofitable.
  • in vain — excessively proud of or concerned about one's own appearance, qualities, achievements, etc.; conceited: a vain dandy.
  • in-effective — not effective; not producing results; ineffectual: ineffective efforts; ineffective remedies.

noun wild goose chase

  • frisking — Present participle of frisk.
All 5 Synonyms of wild goose chase

Antonyms for wild goose chase

noun wild goose chase

  • finding — an act of finding or discovering.
Just one Antonym for wild goose chase

See also

Matching words

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