徒と労ろう

と

ろ

う

Common wordFreq.FrequencyTop 100,000

Meanings

fruitless effort; wasted effort; futility

Refers to effort that yields no result; often used in formal or written contexts. The gloss 'abortive scheme' is a narrower, less common nuance.

彼かれの努ど力りょくは結けっ局きょく徒と労ろうに終おわった。
His efforts ended up being in vain.
そんなことをしても徒と労ろうに過すぎない。
Doing that would be nothing but wasted effort.

See all 10 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈事こと〉が徒と労ろうに帰きすfor something to come to nothing / prove fruitless
長なが年ねんの研けん究きゅうが徒と労ろうに帰きした。
Years of research came to nothing.
〈事こと〉は徒と労ろうだったsomething turned out to be a wasted effort
説せっ得とくしようとしたが、それは徒と労ろうだった。
I tried to persuade him, but it turned out to be futile.
〈動どう詞し〉のは徒と労ろうだit is futile to (do something)
今いまさら反はん対たいするのは徒と労ろうだ。
Opposing it now is a pointless effort.

Expressions

徒と労ろうに終おわるend in vain; prove to be wasted effort

Kanji

徒on foot, junior, emptiness
労labor, thank for, reward for

Related words

無む駄だN4
無駄 is a broad, everyday word for waste or uselessness, while 徒労 specifically describes effort that ends up producing no result.
骨ほね折おり損ぞん
骨折り損 is a vivid, colloquial phrase for wasted effort (literally 'broken-bone loss'), whereas 徒労 is more formal and abstract.
空から回まわり
空回り describes effort that spins without traction or progress, while 徒労 emphasizes that the effort ultimately produced no result at all.
無む益えきN1
徒労 is a noun describing effort that turns out to be wasted, while 無益 is the na-adjective describing something as unbeneficial or futile.
水すい泡ほう
徒労 focuses on the wasted effort itself, while 水泡 (in 水泡に帰する) focuses on that effort or plan vanishing into nothing like a bubble.

Opposites

成せい果かN2
成果 is the positive result or fruit of one's effort, the opposite of 徒労, which is effort that yields nothing.

Don't confuse with

苦く労ろうN3
苦労 shares the kanji 労 with 徒労 but means hardship or trouble endured, not effort that turned out to be fruitless.
疲ひ労ろうN2
疲労 shares the kanji 労 with 徒労 but means physical or mental fatigue, unrelated to the idea of wasted effort.

Built from

徒と+労ろう

Etymology

Compound of 徒 (futile, vain) and 労 (labor, effort). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the meaning is transparent from the kanji components.