to little effect

to little effect

In an ineffective or lackluster way; achieving only a minimal result or amount of progress. The candidate has been lashing out at the incumbent president's actions, but to little effect—he is still trailing in the polls by nearly 25 points.
See also: effect, little
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

to good, little, etc. efˈfect

with a good, etc. result: Her talent as a dancer is shown to considerable effect in this new production.
See also: effect
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • run around in circles, to
  • short shrift
  • have a worm in (one's) tongue
  • the rough side of (one's) tongue
  • the rough edge of (one's) tongue
  • the rough edge of your tongue
  • lashing
  • give (one) a tongue-lashing
  • give someone a tongue-lashing
  • tongue-lashing
References in classic literature
When the Tilneys were gone, she became amiable again, but she was amiable for some time to little effect; Mrs.
He was coached - to little effect - by wheelchair basketball star Ade Adepitan in Trafalgar Square, where the event will be shown on a giant screen.
Despite some promising partnering, the dancers expended a great deal of energy to little effect. In different performances Herman Cornejo and David Hallberg, excellent men both, worked to shape their leading part in the first movement especially, but it was a losing battle--and frustrating to the audience--as the dance progressed with relentless pacing.
Mandates for electric cars have been in effect for years, to little effect, either in terms of sales or clearing the air.
Moreover, it is occasionally repetitive to little effect. Furthermore, the author makes no explicit attempt to integrate his work into recent historiographical trends, though connections can often be made by the perceptive reader.
These laws have been repeatedly amended to include more diseases, but to little effect, since the Veterans Administration continues to deny all but 3 per cent of claims.
Hart sent on Chopra for the final 13 minutes to little effect.
The $50- million-a-year subsidy harks back to the 1970s, when "alternative" energy sources were showered with handouts to little effect. Such plants work in Europe only thanks to sky-high taxes on energy sources.