useless
Americanadjective
-
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
-
without useful qualities; of no practical good.
a useless person; a useless gadget.
- Synonyms:
- unusable , unserviceable
adjective
-
having no practical use or advantage
-
informal ineffectual, weak, or stupid
he's useless at history
Related Words
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.
Other Word Forms
- uselessly adverb
- uselessness noun
Etymology
Origin of useless
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.
Initial reports about Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales revenue are useless as a guide for stock investors on how retailers will fare over this holiday season.
From MarketWatch
But just because a medicine or vaccine can be profitable does not mean it’s useless.
From Salon
This colossal waste has enormous economic costs and renders useless all the water and resources used to grow the food.
From Salon
Remember when he said after Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying that he was "just useless" and "drove terribly" and Ferrari "probably need to change driver"?
From BBC
Maybe the United Nations isn’t as useless as it so often shows.
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.
