How do you say “A wild goose chase” in German?
The closest natural German equivalent is Eine vergebliche Suche, which literally means “A futile search”. English speakers use a wild goose chase to mean a long search that leads nowhere. A natural descriptive equivalent, with less colour than the English idiom. Register: neutral. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural German
Eine vergebliche Suche
/ˈaɪnə fɛɐ̯ˈɡeːplɪçə ˈzuːxə/
- Literal meaning
- “A futile search”
- Register
- neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Close equivalent
83 out of 100
What a native German speaker would actually say
English makes wasted effort into a chase after a goose. German usually describes the fruitless search directly.
“Einer falschen Spur folgen” adds a trail image when bad information caused the problem. It does not by itself say how much time was wasted.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone3 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity1 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in German?
Einer falschen Spur folgen
Literally: “To follow a false trail”
Use when misleading information sends a search the wrong way.
Ein sinnloses Unterfangen
Literally: “A pointless undertaking”
Broader and more formal, for an effort with no useful result.
Common translation traps
Eine wilde Gänsejagd
This suggests hunting geese rather than a pointless search.
The notes above explain why these versions do not work in this context in German.
In context
English
Looking for that old receipt was a wild goose chase.
German
Die Suche nach dem alten Kassenbon war vergeblich.
English
The wrong address sent us on a wild goose chase.
German
Wegen der falschen Adresse haben wir vergeblich gesucht.
Related expressions
- What “A wild goose chase” means in English
- Barking up the wrong tree, To be completely mistaken.
- Miss the boat, To be too late for an opportunity.
Last updated 2026-09-12