Etymology

unhelpful

U1N1H4E1L1P3F4U1L1

Today it means: Not providing help or assistance; not helpful. Full definition →

English helpful ← Middle English un- ← Old English un-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European*né
  2. Proto-Indo-European*n̥-
  3. Proto-Germanic*un-
  4. Proto-West Germanic*un-
  5. Old Englishun-
  6. Middle Englishun-
  7. Englishun-
  8. Englishhelpful
  9. English todayunhelpful

From un- + helpful.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.