from pillar to post
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Fruitless movement from one place to another.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
And Matthew … poor Matthew! — even now he's being chased from pillar to post, on stage and TV at home and abroad — to satisfy the cuddly trio's craving for mischief and mayhem!
Mr Harper wanted Mr Major to stop the closures but says his letter has been sent from ‘ pillar to post’ from Downing Street to the Department of Environment and on to the Health Department without a word from Mr Major.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Figurative class: Euphemism (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “from pillar to post” mean?
Fruitless movement from one place to another.
Is “from pillar to post” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.