useful
Americanadjective
-
being of use or service; serving some purpose; advantageous, helpful, or of good effect.
a useful member of society.
- Synonyms:
- beneficial, efficacious, profitable
- Antonyms:
- useless
-
of practical use, as for doing work; producing material results; supplying common needs.
the useful arts; useful work.
- Synonyms:
- beneficial, efficacious, profitable
- Antonyms:
- useless
adjective
-
able to be used advantageously, beneficially, or for several purposes; helpful or serviceable
-
informal commendable or capable
a useful term's work
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of useful
Explanation
If you can use something, it's useful. Useful things are handy for whatever you're doing. If something is just what you need or you just find it helpful, then it's useful. A hammer is useful in building many things. Coasters are useful if you don't want a coffee table to get stains. College degrees are useful — or necessary — for many careers. MacGyver would tell you that just about anything can be useful at some point: it all depends what you need to do.
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.
Lerner accepts, however, that historical context is useful but not sufficient on its own.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 9, 2026
After her daughter’s public-school experience, Ms. Hannah-Jones might agree that supplemental educational services would be useful to many public-school students.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
For her, someone's current salary isn't necessarily particularly useful information anyway as she says she's much more interested in "whether someone is ambitious and driven than what they earn monetarily".
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
Moura says the findings challenge the common idea that aerobic exercise is mainly responsible for weight loss while strength training is useful primarily for building muscle.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026
As everyone entered the inn, I thought I would make myself useful.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
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.
