worthlessness

W4O1R1T1H4L1E1S1S1N1E1S1S1

noun

The quality of lacking worth, of being valueless, useless or devoid of benefit.

“Kids these days far too often attribute low academic grades to feelings of worthlessness.”

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UncommonScrabble 19

Meanings

nounworthlessness (usually uncountable, plural worthlessnesses)

plural worthlessnesses

  1. uncountableusuallyThe quality of lacking worth, of being valueless, useless or devoid of benefit.

    Kids these days far too often attribute low academic grades to feelings of worthlessness.

    2 more examples

    We see men of all kinds of professed creeds attain to almost all degrees of worth or worthlessness under each or any of them.

    1840 May 5, Thomas Carlyle, “Lecture I. The Hero as Divinity. Odin. Paganism: Scandinavian Mythology.”, in On Heroes, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 2

    This general teaching as to the worthlessness of alcohol as a food had been set forth by the leaders in medical profession, and accepted largely by the rank and file of practitioners for about twenty-five years.

    1905, Carry Nation, chapter 28, in The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation, archived from the original on 11 Aug 2014

Synonyms & antonyms

nounhaving no qualities that would render it valuable or useful

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Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

Translations

Catalan inutilitat, inanitat
  • inutilitatquality of lacking worth
  • inanitatquality of lacking worth
Chinese Mandarin 沒有價值, 没有价值
  • 沒有價值quality of lacking worth
  • 没有价值 (méiyǒu jiàzhí)quality of lacking worth
  • 無價值quality of lacking worth
  • 无价值 (wú jiàzhí)quality of lacking worth
Finnish arvottomuus
  • arvottomuusquality of lacking worth
Italian inutilità, inane
  • inutilitàquality of lacking worth
  • inanequality of lacking worth
Latin nēquitia, vilitas
  • nēquitiaquality of lacking worth
  • vilitasquality of lacking worth
Persian بیارزشی
  • بیارزشی (bi-arzeši)quality of lacking worth
Polish bezwartościowość
  • bezwartościowośćquality of lacking worth
Portuguese inutilidade
  • inutilidadequality of lacking worth
Turkish değersizlik, kıymetsizlik
  • değersizlikquality of lacking worth
  • kıymetsizlikquality of lacking worth
  • naçizlikquality of lacking worth
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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