deadend
Road without exit
A dead end is a street or passage closed at one end, allowing no through traffic.
The term extends to any situation offering no possibility of progress: The investigation hit a dead end.
As a verb, to dead-end is to reach such a point: The road dead-ends at the river.
Also spelled dead-end and dead end.
Mutual obstruction preventing progress
- gridlockComplete mutual obstruction
- standstillTotal cessation of movement
- deadlockMutual blocking, no progress
- cul-de-sacStreet closed at end
blind alley · roadblock · blockade · logjam · bottleneck · halt · obstruction · barrier
Channel or tedium
- plateauFlat highland area
- slumpExtended period of decline
- doldrumsState of inactivity
- inertiaResistance to altered motion
stasis · going nowhere · spinning wheels · treading water · career plateau · malaise · listlessness · ceiling
Beyond possibility of success
- pointlessLacking any purpose
- fruitlessProducing no useful outcome
- uselessWithout practical value
- lost causeEndeavor certain to fail
fool's errand · wild goose chase · doomed · unwinnable · waste of time · going in circles · tilting at windmills · exercise in futility
stalemate
Mutual obstruction preventing progress
- gridlockComplete mutual obstruction
- standstillTotal cessation of movement
- deadlockMutual blocking, no progress
cul-de-sac · blind alley · roadblock · blockade · logjam · bottleneck · halt · obstruction · barrier · no exit
rut
Channel or tedium
inertia · stasis · going nowhere · spinning wheels · treading water · career plateau · malaise · listlessness · ceiling · limbo
hopeless
Beyond possibility of success
lost cause · fool's errand · wild goose chase · doomed · unwinnable · waste of time · going in circles · tilting at windmills · exercise in futility · diminishing returns
- power linespower line, power lines, transmission line, power pole, utility pole
deadendthoroughfare
Main public road
main road · highway · arterial road · passage · boulevard
deadendbreakthrough
Sudden important advance
path forward · opportunity · opening · stepping stone · springboard
deadendpromising
Showing signs of success
wide open · limitless · open-ended · expansive · fertile ground
- deader than a doornailExtremely, unquestionably deceased