blind alley

noun

plural blind alleys

: a fruitless or mistaken course or direction see usage paragraph at blind entry 1

Examples of blind alley in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

PsiQuantum is part of DARPA’s Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, which started as a way to evaluate the legitimacy of quantum startups and could give investors comfort that the company is not headed down a blind alley. — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 22 July 2026

There were a handful of moments when the pair made overlapping runs to take defenders away, but O’Reilly’s role and Quansah’s centre-back skillset meant England often ran into blind alleys out wide. — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 27 June 2026

Everyone was going down blind alleys and the oversight was just not there. — Caroline Blair, PEOPLE, 10 June 2026

The attack on the independence of Stars and Stripes is a powerful recapitulation of earlier moments in American military history, moments which make clear the blind alley down which Hegseth is charging his brigades at full speed. — Bill McKibben, The New York Review of Books, 27 Mar. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1665, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for blind alley

• finale
• verbally
• alli
• bally
• calli
• challis
• dally
• galley
• galli
• lally
• mallee
• mally