English · Idiom Candidate

sleeveless errand

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Sense 1

Both English Tiếng Việt

Meaning · English

A task or mission that is futile or pointless

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

nhiệm vụ hoặc sứ mệnh vô ích hoặc không có ý nghĩa

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: an errand with no sleeves

Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

He was sent on a sleeveless errand to negotiate with the unwilling party

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.

Sense 2

Meaning · English

A fool's errand, in search of what it is impossible to find.

Era: ca. 1811 (Georgian)

Where it’s used: Origin British & Irish English

Sources & notes

Historical definition reproduced from Grose’s Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (1811 edition, public domain; Project Gutenberg #5402, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.

Topics: Historical slang (1800s)

Common questions

What does “sleeveless errand” mean?

A task or mission that is futile or pointless Literally: an errand with no sleeves

Is “sleeveless errand” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.