helpless

[help-lis]

adjective

1. unable to help oneself; weak or dependent.

   a helpless invalid.

2. deprived of strength or power; powerless; incapacitated.

   They were helpless with laughter.

3. affording no help.

helpless

/ ˈhɛlplɪs /

adjective

1. unable to manage independently

2. made powerless or weak

   they were helpless from so much giggling

3. without help

Other Word Forms

• helplessly adverb
• helplessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of helpless¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English; help + -less

Example Sentences

A disabled man has said he felt helpless and suicidal after fraudsters used his identity to claim benefits.

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It's a similar tale for Fahima, who says she now feels "helpless".

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But she was “feeling increasingly helpless,” she later said, until she had the idea that would finally put her project on the fast track.

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Faced with the deaths of tens of thousands of its citizens, Abbas's Palestinian Authority, watching from its headquarters in the West Bank, has been largely reduced to the role of helpless bystander.

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The individual afflicted feels guilt, shame and anger, but ultimately, and perhaps more important, feels — and is — objectively helpless to do anything about it.

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Related Words

• defenseless 
• destitute 
• forlorn 
• impotent 
• paralyzed www.thesaurus.com
• powerless 
• unable 
• unprotected 
• vulnerable 
• weak