at cross-purposes
Working against each other
At cross-purposes describes people working toward conflicting goals without realizing it, or misunderstanding each other's intentions: They talked for an hour before discovering they'd been at cross-purposes the whole time.
The phrase suggests wasted effort from a failure to communicate clearly.
- misinterpretationIncorrect understanding of meaning
- disagreementAbsence of shared opinion
- discordLack of agreement
- misunderstandingFailure to grasp meaning
- uncoordinatedLacking physical grace
scattershot · ambiguity · friction · contention · butting heads · at loggerheads · rivalry · haphazardness · antagonism · opposition · confusion · inconsistency · reconciliation · vagueness · confrontation · dispute · misstatement · clarification
at cross-purposesin agreement
Sharing a position
on the same page · of one mind · in accord · in harmony · aligned
at cross-purposescoordinated
Arranged to work together
in tandem · working together · in step · synchronized · cooperating
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