unhelpful

U1N1H4E1L1P3F4U1L1
/ʌnˈhɛlpfəl/

adjective

Not providing help or assistance; not helpful.

Opposite
Less commonScrabble 17

Meanings

adjectiveunhelpful (comparative more unhelpful, superlative most unhelpful)

comparative more unhelpful · superlative most unhelpful

  1. Not providing help or assistance; not helpful.

    Even if you are genuinely a victim, having a victim mentality is unhelpful because it is disempowering. ― Ned Kelly, "NFL Players Are Setting A Bad Example By Teaching Black People To Encourage Victimhood", 8th of October 2017

    2 more examples

    "Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the stars, that you cried not to him?"

    1904, William Henry Hudson, Green Mansions, chapter XX

    The luckier and less disabled ones manned lifts or were posted at the doors of public buildings, a uniformed and bemedalled conciergerie who were more often than not unhelpful, making the most of whatever petty authority they were invested with.

    2011, Alan Bennett, “Baffled at a Bookcase”, in London Review of Books, XXXIII.15

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveproviding no assistance

Opposite

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  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. Englishunhelpful

From un- + helpful.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 無益 /无益
  • 無益 /无益 (wúyì)not helpful
Danish uhjælpsom
  • uhjælpsomnot helpful
Finnish auttamaton
  • auttamatonnot helpful
French inserviable
  • inserviablenot helpful
German unhilfreich
  • unhilfreichnot helpful
Norwegian Bokmål uhjelpsom
  • uhjelpsomnot helpful
Polish nieprzydatny
  • nieprzydatnynot helpful
Cite this entry
APA

unhelpful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unhelpful

MLA

“unhelpful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unhelpful. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “unhelpful,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/unhelpful.

Source: unhelpful on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.