無功而返 Save Sign in to save words Simplified: 无功而返 wúgōngérfǎn ㄨˊ ㄍㄨㄥ ㄦˊ ㄈㄢˇ to return without any achievement (idiom) to go home with one's tail between one's legs Character by character 無(wú)not to have 功(gōng)meritorious deed or service 而(ér)and 返(fǎn)return A Chinese word or character, or English Search Sources CC-CEDICT, CC BY-SA 4.0 pinyinjs, Apache-2.0