Meanings
plural blind alleys
- Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blind, alley. A street or passageway that leads nowhere.
Synonyms: cul-de-sac, dead end
- figurativelyA course of inquiry that leads nowhere.
"We looked into lots of blind alleys for re-engineering our fleet. […]."
2023 October 4, Ben Jones, “'08e' sparks new life into trusty shunters”, in RAIL, number 993, page 471 more example
[Raheem] Sterling was grateful that a glaring miss from [Jesse] Lingard's pass was rescued by a linesman's flag against the Manchester United midfielder, but he almost tried too hard as the game progressed and was running up blind alleys before he was replaced by Marcus Rashford after 68 minutes.
2018 June 18, Phil McNulty, “Tunisia 1 – 2 England”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 21 Apr 2019
Synonyms & antonyms
nounUsed other than figuratively or idiomatically: see blind, alley. A street or passageway that leads nowhere.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
The notion of ‘blindness’ comes from the lack of a through passage (the ‘eye’). Attested since 1583, and used figuratively since the mid-19th century.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
blind alley. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blind%20alley
“blind alley.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blind%20alley. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “blind alley,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/blind%20alley.
Source: blind alley on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.