Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈhɛlplɪs/
- Hyphenation: help‧less
Adjective
helpless (comparative more helpless, superlative most helpless)
- Unable to defend oneself.
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: FTL Drive Codex entry:Rana Thanoptis: Are we good? Can I go?
Shepard: You conducted brutal experiments on helpless test subjects. You helped Saren. You don't get to live.
- Lacking help; powerless.
1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 41:A gaoler struck him, pushing him back in place in the hopeless, helpless line of prisoners.
- Unable to act without help; needing help; feeble.
- Uncontrollable.
- a helpless urge
- (obsolete) From which there is no possibility of being saved.
Translations
- Arabic: عَاجِز (ʕājiz)
- Belarusian: бездапамо́жны (bjezdapamóžny), бяспо́мачны (bjaspómačny), бяссі́льны (bjassílʹny)
- Bengali: অক্ষম (bn) (okkhom), লাচার (bn) (lacar), নাচার (bn) (nacar)
- Bulgarian: безпо́мощен (bg) (bezpómošten), безси́лен (bg) (bezsílen)
- Catalan: indefens
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 無助的/无助的 (zh) (wúzhù), 無力的/无力的 (zh) (wúlì de)
- Czech: bezmocný (cs), bezradný
- Danish: hjælpeløs (da)
- Dutch: hulpeloos (nl)
- Esperanto: senhelpa
- Finnish: avuton (fi)
- French: sans défense
- Georgian: უმწეო (umc̣eo)
- German: hilflos (de)
- Greek: αβοήθητος (el) (avoḯthitos)
- Hindi: विवश (hi) (vivaś), असहाय (hi) (ashāy), अशक्त (hi) (aśakt)
- Hungarian: kiszolgáltatott (hu), védtelen (hu)
- Ido: senhelpa
- Igbo: enweghị enyemaka
- Irish: fágtha
- Italian: indifeso (it)
- Japanese: 無力な (ja) (むりょくな, muryoku na)
- Khmer: ដែលឥតអនុភាព (dael ət a’nu’pʰiep)
- Korean: 무력하다 (ko) (muryeokhada)
- Kurdish:
- Central Kurdish: ناچار (naçar), بێ دەسەڵات (bê desellat)
- Latin: inops
- Macedonian: беспомошен (bespomošen), немоќен (nemoḱen)
- Malagasy: afa-manoatra
- Maltese: hilflose
- Maori: paraheahea
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: hjelpeløs
- Plautdietsch: halplooss
- Polish: bezradny (pl), bezsilny (pl), bezbronny (pl)
- Portuguese: indefeso (pt)
- Romanian: neajutorat (ro)
- Russian: беспо́мощный (ru) (bespómoščnyj), бесси́льный (ru) (bessílʹnyj)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: бе̏спомоћан
- Roman: bȅspomoćan
- Slovak: bezmocný, bezradný
- Slovene: nemočni
- Spanish: indefenso (es), desamparado (es) m
- Swedish: hjälplös (sv)
- Turkish: âciz (tr)
- Ukrainian: безпо́мічний (uk) (bezpómičnyj), безси́лий (uk) (bezsýlyj)
- Urdu: بے بس (be bas), مَجبُور (majbūr)
- West Frisian: helpleas
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unable to act without help; needing help; feeble
Further reading
- “helpless”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “helpless”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.