Meanings
adjectiveuseless (comparative more useless or uselesser, superlative most useless or uselessest)
comparative more useless · comparative uselesser · superlative most useless · superlative uselessest
- Without use or the possibility to be used.
This fork's prongs are bent. It's useless now.
1 more example
I'm all for opening new stations (Transport Scotland is planning another at East Linton, about halfway between Drem and Dunbar), but they are useless without a decent service.
2021 June 30, Philip Haigh, “Regional trains squeezed as ECML congestion heads north”, in RAIL, number 934, page 53Synonyms: unusable, unutilizable
- derogatoryGood-for-nothing; not dependable.
Bill never mows the lawn, takes out the trash or anything. He's useless, but I love him anyways.
Synonyms: good-for-nothing
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveWithout use or the possibility to be used.
Similar
adjectiveUnhelpful, not useful; pointless (of an action).
Similar
adjectiveGood-for-nothing; not dependable.
Similar
adjectiveOf a person, Unable to do well at a particular task or endeavor.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivehaving no beneficial use or incapable of functioning usefully
Opposite
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₃eyt-der.?
- Proto-Italic*oitōr
- Latinūtor
- Latinūsus
- Old Frenchus
- Middle Englishuse
- Englishuse
- Proto-Indo-European*lewh₁-
- Proto-Indo-European*lewHs-
- Proto-Germanic*leusaną
- Proto-Germanic*lausaz
- Englishuseless
Translations
Ancient Greek ἀχρεῖος, ἄχρηστος
- ἀχρεῖος (akhreîos)without use or possibility to be used
- ἄχρηστος (ákhrēstos)without use or possibility to be used
Arabic عَدِيمُ الْفَائِدَةِ
- عَدِيمُ الْفَائِدَةِ (ʕadīmu l-fāʔidati)without use or possibility to be used
Basque baliogabe, ezgai
- baliogabewithout use or possibility to be used
- ezgaiwithout use or possibility to be used
- hutsalwithout use or possibility to be used
Bulgarian безполе́зен, безсмислен
- безполе́зен (bezpolézen)without use or possibility to be used
- безсмислен (bezsmislen)unhelpful, pointless
- негоден (negoden)good-for-nothing, not dependable
Catalan inútil, inútil
- inútilwithout use or possibility to be used
- inútilunable to do well
Chinese Cantonese 冇用, 冇鬼用
- 冇用 (mou⁵ jung⁶)without use or possibility to be used
- 冇鬼用unable to do well
Chinese Mandarin 無用 /无用
- 無用 /无用 (wúyòng)without use or possibility to be used
Czech zbytečný
- zbytečnýwithout use or possibility to be used
Danish nytteløs, ubrugelig
- nytteløswithout use or possibility to be used
- ubrugeligwithout use or possibility to be used
- meningsløsunhelpful, pointless
- unyttigunable to do well
Dutch nutteloos, onbruikbaar
- nuttelooswithout use or possibility to be used
- onbruikbaarwithout use or possibility to be used
- waardeloosgood-for-nothing, not dependable
Esperanto senutila
- senutilawithout use or possibility to be used
Estonian tarbetu
- tarbetuwithout use or possibility to be used
Finnish hyödytön, tarpeeton
- hyödytönwithout use or possibility to be used
- tarpeetonwithout use or possibility to be used
- turhawithout use or possibility to be used
- kelvotonwithout use or possibility to be used
- käyttökelvotonwithout use or possibility to be used
- turhaunhelpful, pointless
- hyödytöngood-for-nothing, not dependable
- onnetonunable to do well
- kelvotonunable to do well
French inutile, inutilisable
- inutilewithout use or possibility to be used
- inutilisablewithout use or possibility to be used
- inutileunhelpful, pointless
- bon à riengood-for-nothing, not dependable
German nutzlos, unnützlich
- nutzloswithout use or possibility to be used
- unnützlichwithout use or possibility to be used
- unnützwithout use or possibility to be used
- wertloswithout use or possibility to be used
- sinnloswithout use or possibility to be used
- sinnlosunhelpful, pointless
- unnützgood-for-nothing, not dependable
- unnützunable to do well
Greek άχρηστος, μάταιος
- άχρηστος (áchristos)without use or possibility to be used
- μάταιος (mátaios)unhelpful, pointless
- άχρηστος (áchristos)unable to do well
Hawaiian waiwai ʻole, makehewa
- waiwai ʻolewithout use or possibility to be used
- makehewawithout use or possibility to be used
- makehewaunhelpful, pointless
Hebrew חֲסַר תוֹעֶלֶת
- חֲסַר תוֹעֶלֶת (ḥasar to'elet)without use or possibility to be used
Hindi बेकार, निरर्थक
- बेकार (bekār)without use or possibility to be used
- निरर्थक (nirarthak)without use or possibility to be used
- अर्थहीन (arthahīn)unhelpful, pointless
- कुटिल (kuṭil)good-for-nothing, not dependable
Icelandic gagnslaus
- gagnslauswithout use or possibility to be used
Indonesian tidak berguna, percuma
- tidak bergunawithout use or possibility to be used
- percumaunhelpful, pointless
- sia-siaunhelpful, pointless
- brengsekgood-for-nothing, not dependable
- payahunable to do well
Irish gan mhaith
- gan mhaithwithout use or possibility to be used
Italian inutile, inutile
- inutilewithout use or possibility to be used
- inutileunhelpful, pointless
- inutilegood-for-nothing, not dependable
- buono a nullagood-for-nothing, not dependable
- negatounable to do well
Japanese 無用な, 下手
- 無用な (muyō-na)without use or possibility to be used
- 下手unable to do well
Korean 무용하다, 쓸모가 없다
- 무용하다 (muyonghada)without use or possibility to be used
- 쓸모가 없다 (sseulmoga eopda)without use or possibility to be used
- 소용가 없다 (soyongga eopda)without use or possibility to be used
Latin inūtilis, cassus
- inūtiliswithout use or possibility to be used
- cassusunhelpful, pointless
Malay tidak berguna
- tidak bergunawithout use or possibility to be used
Norwegian nytteløs, unyttig
- nytteløswithout use or possibility to be used
- unyttigwithout use or possibility to be used
- ubrukeligwithout use or possibility to be used
- unyttigunable to do well
Norwegian Bokmål ubrukelig
- ubrukeligunable to do well
Persian بی فایده
- بی فایده (bi-fâyede)without use or possibility to be used
Polish niepotrzebny, bezużyteczny
- niepotrzebnywithout use or possibility to be used
- bezużytecznywithout use or possibility to be used
Portuguese inútil, imprestável
- inútilwithout use or possibility to be used
- imprestávelwithout use or possibility to be used
- inútilunhelpful, pointless
- inútilgood-for-nothing, not dependable
- imprestávelgood-for-nothing, not dependable
- péssimounable to do well
Romanian inutil, netrebuincios
- inutilwithout use or possibility to be used
- netrebuincioswithout use or possibility to be used
- nefolositorwithout use or possibility to be used
Russian бесполе́зный, нену́жный
- бесполе́зный (bespoléznyj)without use or possibility to be used
- нену́жный (nenúžnyj)without use or possibility to be used
- никчёмный (nikčómnyj)without use or possibility to be used
- бесполе́зный (bespoléznyj)unable to do well
- никчёмный (nikčómnyj)unable to do well
Scottish Gaelic gun fheum, dìomhain
- gun fheumwithout use or possibility to be used
- dìomhainunhelpful, pointless
- gun fheumunable to do well
Slovak zbytočný
- zbytočnýwithout use or possibility to be used
Spanish inútil, inútil
- inútilwithout use or possibility to be used
- inútilunhelpful, pointless
- inútilgood-for-nothing, not dependable
- inútilunable to do well
- negadounable to do well
Swedish oanvändbar, obrukbar
- oanvändbarwithout use or possibility to be used
- obrukbarwithout use or possibility to be used
- meningslösunhelpful, pointless
- hopplösgood-for-nothing, not dependable
- odugliggood-for-nothing, not dependable
Thai ไม่มีประโยชน์
- ไม่มีประโยชน์unhelpful, pointless
Turkish faydasız
- faydasızwithout use or possibility to be used
Ukrainian некори́сний
- некори́сний (nekorýsnyj)without use or possibility to be used
Urdu بے کار, فضول
- بے کار (be-kār)without use or possibility to be used
- فضول (fazūl)without use or possibility to be used
Vietnamese vô dụng
- vô dụngwithout use or possibility to be used
Yiddish אומניצלעך
- אומניצלעך (umnitslekh)without use or possibility to be used
Cite this entry
APA
useless. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/useless
MLA
“useless.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/useless. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “useless,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/useless.
Source: useless on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.