useful

[yoos-fuhl]

adjective

1. 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

2. of practical use, as for doing work; producing material results; supplying common needs.

   the useful arts; useful work.

   Synonyms: beneficial, efficacious, profitable
   Antonyms: useless

useful

/ ˈjuːsfʊl /

adjective

1. able to be used advantageously, beneficially, or for several purposes; helpful or serviceable

2. informal,  commendable or capable

   a useful term's work

noun

1. informal,  an odd-jobman or general factotum

Other Word Forms

• usefully adverb
• usefulness noun
• unuseful adjective
• unusefully adverb
• unusefulness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of useful¹

First recorded in 1585–95; use + -ful

Example Sentences

Arteta said it would be useful to seal qualification for the last 16 of the Champions League quickly but warned there were tough challenges ahead.

Read more on Barron's

Still, proxy servers can be useful when speed is more critical than privacy.

Read more on Salon

At first blush, ChatGPT provided a useful first cut even though, for this exercise, I only analyzed three of the six plans that met my criteria.

Read more on MarketWatch

These radicals are highly useful intermediates in natural product synthesis and pharmaceutical research, but most available techniques are designed for aryl ketones rather than simpler alkyl ketones.

Read more on Science Daily

Nvidia built itself into the world’s most valuable company after it realized that they were useful for AI computing.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• advantageous 
• appropriate 
• convenient 
• effective 
• favorable 
• fruitful 
• good 
• handy 
• helpful 
• practical 
• pragmatic 
• profitable 
• proper 
• suitable