useless
- 1Having no use, and incapable of being put to any purpose at all.
Like an umbrella with no fabric: it exists, but it can't do its one job.
After the flood damaged its engine, the car was completely useless.
Without a signal, the expensive radio proved useless to the stranded hikers.
Similarunusable
Oppositeuseful, usable, functional
- 2Unhelpful and pointless, so that performing the action accomplishes nothing worthwhile.
Like bailing water from a boat that has already sunk.
Complaining about the weather is useless, since nothing you say will change it.
Their last-minute efforts to fix the report proved useless once the deadline had passed.
Similarpointless, futile, fruitless, vain, ineffective
Oppositeuseful, worthwhile, effective, fruitful
- 3Unable to perform a particular task well: a mildly insulting way to describe someone's lack of skill.
My brother is useless at directions and gets lost even with a map.
She felt useless at math no matter how many hours she studied.
Similarhopeless, terrible, bad, inept, incompetent
- 4Worthless and undependable, describing a person who cannot be relied on for anything.
Like a friend who swears he'll show up to help and never does.
His useless cousin borrowed money and never paid back a single cent.
The manager fired the useless worker who skipped half of his shifts.
Similarworthless, hopeless, unreliable, incompetent, good-for-nothing
Oppositereliable, dependable, competent, capable
Practice
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Origin
Formed from "use" combined with the suffix "-less," meaning without use.