dead end
Street without exit
A dead end is a street or passage closed at one end, offering no through route.
The term extends to any situation with no possibility of progress: The investigation hit a dead end.
As a modifier, it describes things lacking potential: a dead-end job, a dead-end relationship.
To dead-end is to reach such an impasse: The road dead-ends at the lake.
Mutual obstruction preventing progress
- standstillTotal cessation of movement
- gridlockComplete mutual obstruction
- standoffUnresolved confrontation between opponents
- logjamObstruction halting flow
checkmate · quagmire · mire · morass · bottleneck · snag · catch-22 · brick wall
Street closed at end
- no outletRoad with blocked passage
- turnaroundShift in opposite direction
- blind alleyPassage without outlet
- no through roadStreet without exit
terminus · circle · court · private drive
Obstruction preventing passage
Unacknowledged limit blocking advancement
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
- stuckUnable to move
- plateauFlat highland area
- unfulfillingLacking emotional reward
pigeonholed · burnout · lateral move · passed over · overlooked · languishing
State of lacking meaning
- waste of timeUnproductive expenditure of hours
- lost causeEndeavor certain to fail
- fool's errandHopeless, pointless task
- wild goose chaseHopeless pursuit of nothing
hopelessness · uselessness · fruitlessness · going nowhere · spinning wheels · exercise in futility · Sisyphean task · treadmill
stalemate
Mutual obstruction preventing progress
- standstillTotal cessation of movement
- gridlockComplete mutual obstruction
- standoffUnresolved confrontation between opponents
logjam · checkmate · quagmire · mire · morass · bottleneck · snag · catch-22 · brick wall · stone wall
cul-de-sac
Street closed at end
- no outletRoad with blocked passage
- turnaroundShift in opposite direction
- blind alleyPassage without outlet
no through road · terminus · circle · court · private drive
barrier
Obstruction preventing passage
obstacle · impediment · hindrance · wall · closure · stoppage · block
glass ceiling
Unacknowledged limit blocking advancement
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
- stuckUnable to move
- plateauFlat highland area
unfulfilling · pigeonholed · burnout · lateral move · passed over · overlooked · languishing
pointlessness
State of lacking meaning
- waste of timeUnproductive expenditure of hours
- lost causeEndeavor certain to fail
- fool's errandHopeless, pointless task
wild goose chase · hopelessness · uselessness · fruitlessness · going nowhere · spinning wheels · exercise in futility · Sisyphean task · treadmill
- mystery fictionwhodunit, whodunnit, sleuth, murder mystery, detective novel
- Futile Effortslost causes, wild goose chase, fool's errand, waste of time, Sisyphean task
- road featurescurve, bend, straightaway, stretch, junction
- traffic signsstop signs, stop sign, yield signs, yield sign, speed limit signs
- traffic termsrush hour, traffic flow, traffic signs, congestion, peak hours
- travel idiomshit the road, in the same boat, miss the boat, end of the road, crossroads
dead endthoroughfare
Main public road
main road · highway · arterial road · boulevard · open road
dead endbreakthrough
Sudden important advance
opportunity · open door · stepping stone · path forward · gateway