helpful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived 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.
The traffic is not helpful, but other than that, it’s exciting.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 13, 2026
"This is helpful because we have a lot of drugs to fight cancer and some of them might be useful therapeutically for Alzheimer's disease."
From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026
"That is very challenging, but this unfamiliar data is also very helpful for the robot's growth."
From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026
Having all the paperwork done, such as a will or a list of passwords, isn’t helpful if the person left to do the administrative tasks doesn’t know where to find it.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 10, 2026
And I can’t deny that talking to him has been helpful.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
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.
