Meaning & use

useless

adjective·Everyday

Not able to fulfill its intended purpose, or having no practical use or effect.

See it in a sentence

The broken umbrella was useless in the middle of the storm.

All his advice turned out to be useless once the situation actually changed.

A note on using this word

Useless can also be used informally and self-deprecatingly to mean incompetent, as in feeling useless at a task.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “useless”, then compare your use with the examples above.

Your draft stays on this page and is not sent anywhere.