naught

1 of 2

pronoun

ˈnȯt  ˈnät 

variants or less commonly nought

: nothing

Their efforts came to naught.

It was all for naught.

naught

2 of 2

noun

variants or less commonly nought

1

: nothingness, nonexistence

2

: the arithmetical symbol 0 : zero, cipher

Synonyms

Noun

• aught
• cipher
• goose egg
• nil
• nothing
• o
• oh
• zero
• zilch
• zip

Examples of naught in a Sentence

Noun

my locker number is naught-seven-two

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

That's much higher than with other infectious diseases, such as Ebola with an R naught of 2. —Alyson Hurt, NPR, 28 Feb. 2025

That's for naught if conservatives tank the bill first. —Hans Nichols, Axios, 25 Feb. 2025

There has been incessant trading in these two companies for years now — all, in retrospect, for naught. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 20 Feb. 2025

Imagine if the Aztecs, who happily sent their young up the pyramid to be horrible killed for a bunch of mythical lizards, realized their sacrifices were for naught. —Clem Chambers, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Pronoun and Noun

Middle English nought, from Old English nāwiht, from nā no + wiht creature, thing — more at no, wight

First Known Use

Pronoun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined above

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing naught

• all for naught
• come to naught
• go for naught

Rhymes for naught

• aught
• baht
• blot
• bott
• bought
• brought
• caught
• clot
• cot
• cott
• dot
• fought

Kids Definition

naught

1 of 2 pronoun

variants also nought

ˈnȯt,

ˈnät

: nothing entry 1 sense 2

their efforts came to naught

naught

2 of 2 noun

variants also nought

1

: the quality or state of being nothing : nonexistence

2

: zero entry 1 sense 1 see number