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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

useless.

Without use or the possibility to be used.

7 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈjuːs.ləs/Received-Pronunciation/ˈjʉws.ləs/British, Southern, Standard/ˈjus.ləs/Canada, General-American/ˈjʉːs.ləs/Australia, New-Zealand
  1. Without use or the possibility to be used.

    This fork's prongs are bent. It's useless now.
  2. Unhelpful, not useful; pointless (of an action).

    I think it's useless to keep this discussion going. It's like talking to a brick wall.
    I tried my best to make him quit smoking, but my efforts were useless. He now smokes six packs a day.
  3. Good-for-nothing; not dependable.

    derogatory
    Bill never mows the lawn, takes out the trash or anything. He's useless, but I love him anyways.
  4. Of a person, Unable to do well at a particular task or endeavor.

    colloquial · derogatory
    My brother is useless at most computer games, but he is an awesome PS2 player.
    Why do you keep trying? You're obviously useless at it.
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt-der.? Proto-Italic *oitōr Latin ūtor Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Italic *-tus Latin -tus Latin ūsus Old French usbor. Middle English use English use Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English useless From use + -less.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.