worthless
Americanadjective
adjective
-
without practical value or usefulness
-
without merit; good-for-nothing
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of worthless
Explanation
If you have your antique pearl necklace appraised by a jeweler and learn that it's a worthless fake, you'll be terribly disappointed, since something that's worthless has no monetary value. Use the adjective worthless to describe something that has no use or isn't worth any money. Your old broken-down car, a stamp collection with no value, and your no-good roommate who never cleans and won't pay his share of the rent could all be described as worthless. The roots are the Old English words weorð, "equal in value to," and leas, "devoid of."
Vocabulary lists containing worthless
Power Suffix: -less
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Good Riddance
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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.
"She genuinely thought she was a wicked person. She thought she was worthless, and that's how she spent the rest of her life."
From BBC • Jun. 10, 2026
Facebook recommendations from your “friends” are worthless if not dangerous.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
His point wasn’t that all humanities scholarship was worthless, but that an article could gain academic approval by sounding sophisticated while flattering the editors’ ideological commitments.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
When Montaclair defended himself, he said making up a worthless award is not in itself against the law, and it was local media who had described it as a Nobel.
From BBC • May 6, 2026
Omakayas tried to make herself better, to stop dwelling on worthless sadnesses.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
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.
