adjective
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unable to manage independently
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made powerless or weak
they were helpless from so much giggling
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without help
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of helpless
Explanation
To be helpless is to have no ability to take care of or protect yourself from harm. A newborn baby is helpless, and needs parents to care for her. If you're helpless, you're dependent on other people to assist or care for you. Breaking both your legs will leave you helpless, and even being in an unfamiliar city can make you feel helpless as you wander around looking for your hotel late at night. You can also use helpless to mean "irresistible" or "uncontrollable," especially when someone bursts out laughing: "They broke into helpless laughter during his speech."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Appeared in the April 28, 2026, print edition as 'Base Turmoil Leaves Exiled Islanders Helpless'.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 28, 2026
Helpless as he hung upside down, McDonald and his fate were now in the hands of others.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2023
Helpless to emerge from the shadow of her deceased scientist father, astronomer Lucy Muchelney finds a surprising patron in Catherine St. Day, the widowed Countess of Moth.
From Seattle Times • Feb. 10, 2021
Helpless, they waited for the spacecraft to reason its way back to the original receiver; when it did, and the command went through normally, they were giddy with relief.
From New York Times • Aug. 3, 2017
Helpless, Penelope stood like a statue, not daring to take a step lest she tumble off some unseen precipice.
From "The Unseen Guest" by Maryrose Wood
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
