徒劳无益 (tú láo mó) — futile effort, pointless exertion, labor in vain

Definition

A chengyu meaning effort that is both 'futile' and 'useless' — wasted labor that brings no result. Stronger than plain 没有用: it stresses that the work itself was pointless, not just unsuccessful.

idiom

futile effortpointless exertionlabor in vain

Examples

徒劳无益，。
Nǐ zhè yàng zuò wán quán shì tú láo mó, tā bú huì huí xīn zhuǎn yì de.
What you're doing is completely futile — he won't change his mind.
徒劳无益，。
Yǔ qí tú láo mó dì bào yuàn, bù rú xiǎng bàn fǎ jiě jué wèn tí.
Instead of complaining futilely, it's better to think of a way to solve the problem.
，徒劳无益，。
Tā shì tú shuō fú lǎo bǎn, dàn tú láo mó, lǎo bǎn yǐ jīng jué dìng le.
He tried to persuade the boss, but it was futile — the boss had already decided.

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