1. a cause that has been defeated or whose defeat is inevitable.
Examples from the web for lost cause
- As for envisioning her personal future, that was a lost cause.
- He's probably a lost cause unless something rather dramatic happens in his life to cause a crisis of faith.
- Many conservation leaders initially refused to help them, believing that it was a lost cause.
British Dictionary definitions for lost cause
noun 1. a cause with no chance of success
Slang definitions & phrases for lost cause
lost cause
noun phrase A hopeless or worthless pursuit; a person or thing that can no longer hope to succeed or be changed for the better: tried to reform her, but she is a lost cause
Idioms and Phrases with lost cause
A hopeless undertaking, as in Trying to get him to quit smoking is a lost cause. In the 1860s this expression was widely used to describe the Confederacy. [
Mid-1800s ]