Meanings
adjectivebetter than nothing (comparative form only)
- comparative onlyBarely useful; almost worthless or pointless, but nevertheless better than having nothing at all.
Synonyms: better than a kick in the teeth, better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveBarely useful; almost worthless or pointless, but nevertheless better than having nothing at all.
Translations
Chinese Cantonese 好過冇 /好过冇
- 好過冇 /好过冇 (hou² gwo³ mou⁵)almost worthless
Chinese Mandarin 聊勝於無 /聊胜于无
- 聊勝於無 /聊胜于无 (liáoshèngyúwú)almost worthless
Finnish tyhjää parempi, parempi kuin ei mitään
- tyhjää parempialmost worthless
- parempi kuin ei mitäänalmost worthless
French mieux que rien
- mieux que rienalmost worthless
German besser als nichts (gar)
- besser als nichts (gar)almost worthless
Hungarian jobb, mint a semmi
- jobb, mint a semmialmost worthless
Italian meglio di nulla, poco ma sicuro
- meglio di nullaalmost worthless
- poco ma sicuroalmost worthless
Japanese ないよりまし
- ないよりまし (nai yori mashi)almost worthless
Polish lepszy niż nic, dobre i to
- lepszy niż nicalmost worthless
- dobre i toalmost worthless
Portuguese melhor do que nada
- melhor do que nadaalmost worthless
Russian лу́чше чем ничего́
- лу́чше чем ничего́ (lúčše čem ničevó)almost worthless
Spanish mejor que nada
- mejor que nadaalmost worthless
Swedish bättre än inget
- bättre än ingetalmost worthless
Cite this entry
APA
better than nothing. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/better%20than%20nothing
MLA
“better than nothing.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/better%20than%20nothing. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “better than nothing,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/better%20than%20nothing.
Source: better than nothing on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.