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 of naught

Noun

• nothing
• zero
• aught

Examples of naught in a Sentence

Noun

my locker number is naught-seven-two

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Now, Lewis — who returned from a demotion to Triple A last Saturday — is demonstrating that those efforts might not have been for naught. —Dan Hayes, New York Times, 13 June 2026

Even when the comeback seemed for naught when Stephon Castle was fouled after the Knicks had taken the lead and made two free throws to put San Antonio back ahead with 30 seconds left, the Knicks had one more rally in them. —Tim Reynolds, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026

Even when the comeback seemed for naught when Stephon Castle was fouled after the Knicks had taken the lead and made two free throws to put the Spurs back ahead with 30 seconds left, the Knicks had one more rally in them. —Brian Mahoney, Chicago Tribune, 11 June 2026

Hernandez’s second double of the game (and one of his nine hits in his past 20 at-bats) came with one out in the fourth and went for naught when Rushing and Kim struck out. —Bill Plunkett, Oc Register, 15 May 2026

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