useful

U1S1E1F4U1L1
UK/ˈjuːsfəl/UK[ˈjuːsfɫ̩]British, Southern, Standard/ˈjʉwsfəl̩/British, Southern, Standard[ˈjʉw̯sfɫ̩]

adjective

Having a practical or beneficial use.

“prove useful”

Very commonScrabble 9

Meanings

adjectiveuseful (comparative more useful or usefuller, superlative most useful or usefullest)

comparative more useful · comparative usefuller · superlative most useful · superlative usefullest · alternative usefull

  1. Having a practical or beneficial use.

    prove useful

    5 more examples

    practically useful

    That’s a very useful tool for gardeners.

    She found the information extremely useful.

    In the early days troubles were experienced with oscillation from the rod drive and with the transformers, but were overcome later, and these machines performed useful service until superseded by more modern locomotives less costly in maintenance.

    1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743

    Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

    2013 July–August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist

    Synonyms: handy, noteful, salutary, serviceable, utilitarian, utile, purposive, profitable · Antonyms: unuseful, useless, unusable, unutilizable, inutile

Synonyms & antonyms

More synonyms by meaning

adjectivebeing of use or service

Opposite

adjectivehaving a useful function

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Afrikaans nuttig
  • nuttighaving a practical or beneficial use
Ancient Greek χρήσιμος
  • χρήσιμος (khrḗsimos)having a practical or beneficial use
Arabic مُفِيد, نَافِع
  • مُفِيد (mufīd)having a practical or beneficial use
  • نَافِع (nāfiʕ)having a practical or beneficial use
Bengali ব্যবহারযোগ্য
  • ব্যবহারযোগ্য (beboharjoggo)having a practical or beneficial use
Bulgarian поле́зен
  • поле́зен (polézen)having a practical or beneficial use
Catalan útil
  • útilhaving a practical or beneficial use
Chinese Cantonese 有用
  • 有用 (jau⁵ jung⁶)having a practical or beneficial use
Chinese Mandarin 有用, 實用 /实用
  • 有用 (yǒuyòng)having a practical or beneficial use
  • 實用 /实用 (shíyòng)having a practical or beneficial use
Czech užitečný
  • užitečnýhaving a practical or beneficial use
Danish nyttig, tjenlig
  • nyttighaving a practical or beneficial use
  • tjenlighaving a practical or beneficial use
Dutch nuttig
  • nuttighaving a practical or beneficial use
Esperanto utila
  • utilahaving a practical or beneficial use
Estonian kasulik
  • kasulikhaving a practical or beneficial use
Finnish hyödyllinen, käytännöllinen
  • hyödyllinenhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • käytännöllinenhaving a practical or beneficial use
French utile
  • utilehaving a practical or beneficial use
German nützlich, brauchbar
  • nützlichhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • brauchbarhaving a practical or beneficial use
Greek χρήσιμος
  • χρήσιμος (chrísimos)having a practical or beneficial use
Hebrew שִׁמּוּשִׁי, מוֹעִיל
  • שִׁמּוּשִׁי (shimushí)having a practical or beneficial use
  • מוֹעִיל (mo'íl)having a practical or beneficial use
Hindi उपयोगी, उपयुक्त
  • उपयोगी (upyogī)having a practical or beneficial use
  • उपयुक्त (upyukt)having a practical or beneficial use
Hungarian hasznos
  • hasznoshaving a practical or beneficial use
Icelandic gagnlegur
  • gagnlegurhaving a practical or beneficial use
Indonesian berguna
  • bergunahaving a practical or beneficial use
Irish úsáideach, acrach
  • úsáideachhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • acrachhaving a practical or beneficial use
Italian utile
  • utilehaving a practical or beneficial use
Japanese 使える, 有用な
  • 使える (tsukaeru)having a practical or beneficial use
  • 有用な (yūyō na)having a practical or beneficial use
  • 便利な (benri na)having a practical or beneficial use
  • 役立つ (yakudatsu)having a practical or beneficial use
Korean 유용하다, 도움이 되다
  • 유용하다 (yuyonghada)having a practical or beneficial use
  • 도움이 되다 (doum-i doeda)having a practical or beneficial use
Latin ūtilis
  • ūtilishaving a practical or beneficial use
Latvian derīgs
  • derīgshaving a practical or beneficial use
Lithuanian naudingas
  • naudingashaving a practical or beneficial use
Malay berguna
  • bergunahaving a practical or beneficial use
Māori whaihua
  • whaihuahaving a practical or beneficial use
Norwegian Bokmål tjenlig, nyttig
  • tjenlighaving a practical or beneficial use
  • nyttighaving a practical or beneficial use
Polish pożyteczny, przydatny
  • pożytecznyhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • przydatnyhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • użytecznyhaving a practical or beneficial use
Portuguese útil
  • útilhaving a practical or beneficial use
Romanian util, folositor
  • utilhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • folositorhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • trebuincioshaving a practical or beneficial use
Russian поле́зный, приго́дный
  • поле́зный (poléznyj)having a practical or beneficial use
  • приго́дный (prigódnyj)having a practical or beneficial use
  • практи́чный (praktíčnyj)having a practical or beneficial use
  • нели́шний (nelíšnij)having a practical or beneficial use
Scottish Gaelic goireasach
  • goireasachhaving a practical or beneficial use
Slovak užitočný
  • užitočnýhaving a practical or beneficial use
Spanish útil, servir
  • útilhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • servirhaving a practical or beneficial use
Swahili faida
  • faidahaving a practical or beneficial use
Swedish nyttig, användbar
  • nyttighaving a practical or beneficial use
  • användbarhaving a practical or beneficial use
Tagalog makabuluhan, may bisa
  • makabuluhanhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • may bisahaving a practical or beneficial use
Thai ประโยชน์
  • ประโยชน์ (bprà-yòot)having a practical or beneficial use
Turkish faydalı, yararlı
  • faydalıhaving a practical or beneficial use
  • yararlıhaving a practical or beneficial use
Ukrainian кори́сний
  • кори́сний (korýsnyj)having a practical or beneficial use
Urdu فائِدَہ مَنْد, مُفِید
  • فائِدَہ مَنْد (fāida mand)having a practical or beneficial use
  • مُفِید (mufīd)having a practical or beneficial use
Vietnamese có ích
  • có íchhaving a practical or beneficial use
Welsh buddiol
  • buddiolhaving a practical or beneficial use
Yiddish נוציק, נוצלעך
  • נוציק (nutsik)having a practical or beneficial use
  • נוצלעך (nutslekh)having a practical or beneficial use
  • ניצלעך (nitslekh)having a practical or beneficial use
Cite this entry
APA

useful. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/useful

MLA

“useful.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/useful. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “useful,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/useful.

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