helpful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of helpful
Explanation
If you are inclined to assist others in any situation, you are a helpful person. Your actions can also be called helpful, like your helpful habit of doing the dishes every night. If you want to be helpful, you find ways to make things easier for others, like holding the door for them. Things can also be helpful — maps, cell phones, dictionaries, and holders for wet umbrellas. Taking good notes and setting your alarm to go off early are helpful tips for days when you have big tests. A discussion is helpful if it teaches you something new or gives you ideas for doing something better.
Vocabulary lists containing helpful
Beowulf vocabulary
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Talk Like Shakespeare Day, List 3
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Words to Describe a Teacher
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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.
“Balance is super helpful when you’re young, from an athletic standpoint,” Burbank says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Those doses caused heart muscle cells to contract more strongly, but that effect ultimately proved less helpful.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026
"The bot was not malicious. It was helpful."
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
A more helpful perspective comes from assuming for the moment that midcaps are a distinct asset class, and then comparing their returns with those of small- and large-cap stocks.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
It would be helpful to get more data.
From "A Rover's Story" by Jasmine Warga
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.
