adjective
-
unable to manage independently
-
made powerless or weak
they were helpless from so much giggling
-
without help
Other Word Forms
- helplessly adverb
- helplessness noun
Etymology
Origin of helpless
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.
Skyy Clark blew by one helpless defender after another on the way to repeated driving layups.
From Los Angeles Times
"You can show that you are not helpless, not dependent," he said.
From Barron's
He finds that men who have absorbed these ideas “feel helpless,” like they are “not ever going to be ‘man enough'” to succeed at dating.
From Salon
The label with George’s portrait quotes his judgment of the American Industrial Revolution: “The rich grew richer, the poor grow helpless, the middle class is swept away.”
Another woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "Words can't explain the situation that we're in. It's horrible. I don't even know what to say. So many hopeless, helpless and lifeless people here right now."
From BBC
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.
