useless

[yoos-lis]

adjective

1. of no use; not serving the purpose or any purpose; unavailing or futile.

   It is useless to reason with him.

   Synonyms: inutile, worthless, valueless, profitless, fruitless
   Antonyms: effective

2. without useful qualities; of no practical good.

   a useless person; a useless gadget.

   Synonyms: unusable, unserviceable

useless

/ ˈjuːslɪs /

adjective

1. having no practical use or advantage

2. informal,  ineffectual, weak, or stupid

   he's useless at history

Other Word Forms

• uselessly adverb
• uselessness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of useless¹

First recorded in 1585–95; use + -less

Synonym Study

Useless, futile, ineffectual, vain refer to that which is unavailing. That is useless which is unavailing because of the circumstances of the case or some inherent defect: It is useless to cry over spilt milk. Futile suggests wasted effort and complete failure to attain a desired end: All attempts were futile. That which is ineffectual weakly applies energy in an ill-advised way and does not produce a desired effect: an ineffectual effort. That which is vain is fruitless or hopeless even after all possible effort: It is vain to keep on hoping.

Example Sentences

This colossal waste has enormous economic costs and renders useless all the water and resources used to grow the food.

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They had no idea of the danger they were in, and here she was, useless, half a world away!

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Penelope crumpled the useless form behind her back.

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It left her feeling confused and a bit lost, like a person dropped in a strange city with only a useless guidebook to find her way around.

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Slightly submerged, it was now so close to the enemy ship that the Housatonic’s twelve cannons were useless.

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Related Words

• counterproductive 
• fruitless 
• futile 
• hopeless 
• idle 
• impractical 
• incompetent 
• ineffective 
• ineffectual 
• inoperative 
• meaningless 
• pointless 
• stupid 
• unproductive 
• unworkable 
• worthless