helpless
Origin of helpless
1Other words from helpless
- help·less·ly, adverb
- help·less·ness, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use helpless in a sentence
Shocked and helpless, floating prey made easy pickings for the mass of eels.
Some electric eels coordinate their attacks to zap prey | Jonathan Lambert | January 25, 2021 | Science News For StudentsThe then helpless, floating prey make easy pickings for the mass of eels.
Some electric eels coordinate attacks to zap their prey | Jonathan Lambert | January 14, 2021 | Science NewsJust as we would start to fall asleep, it would blare for a minute or two and then stop, and we were helpless to fix it.
In 1943, Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz proposed what he called “baby schema”—an evolutionary adaptation that encourages us to care for helpless infants.
“It’s a whole cycle of annoyance and feeling helpless and hopeless,” Eli said.
Thousands of families in special-education limbo | Cayla Bamberger, Sarah Butrymowicz, Jackie Mader, Caroline Preston | December 18, 2020 | Washington Post
You may have felt, like I did, lots of emotions—but the most dangerous of them is helplessness.
The brokenness of the political system drives the former, and helplessness drives the latter.
A feeling of helplessness and its resulting paralysis are the enemy of the Good.
“I was humiliated at the thought of my helplessness,” he said.
Retired Marine Reveals Secret Suffering of Male Military Rape Victims | Caitlin Dickson | February 27, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe entangle them in a web of fear, of helplessness and anguish.
He was aware of his own helplessness; he felt almost like a boy scolding his own wise, affectionate mother.
The Wave | Algernon Blackwood"I ask no promise from you," continued the excited and suspicious man, writhing under a sense of his helplessness.
Mamma trusted to me to be a mother to them, papa looks to me, and I so unfit, besides this helplessness.
The Daisy Chain | Charlotte YongeBefore this Mr. Chittenden had not thought of marriage, but now the helplessness of the girl appealed to him.
The Courier of the Ozarks | Byron A. DunnShe caught her underlip between two rows of white teeth to quell the groan of helplessness.
The Adventure Girls at K Bar O | Clair Blank
British Dictionary definitions for helpless
/ (ˈhɛlplɪs) /
unable to manage independently
made powerless or weak: they were helpless from so much giggling
without help
Derived forms of helpless
- helplessly, adverb
- helplessness, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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