无功而返
Traditional form:
無功而返
Pinyin (reading):
wúgōng'érfǎn
Definitions:
- to return without any achievement (idiom); to go home with one's tail between one's legs
Characters:
- 无 - no, not; lacking, -less
- 功 - achievement, good work; merit; service
- 而 - and, and then, and yet; but
- 返 - to restore, to return, to revert to
Traditional characters: