useless

English

Etymology

From use +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuːs.ləs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːsləs

Adjective

useless (comparative more useless or uselesser, superlative most useless or uselessest)

1. Without use or possibility to be used.

   Synonyms: unusable, unutilizable

   This fork's prongs are bent. It's useless now.

   • 2021 June 30, Philip Haigh, “Regional trains squeezed as ECML congestion heads north”, in RAIL, number 934, page 53:

     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.

2. Unhelpful, not useful; pointless (of an action).

   I think it's useless to keep this discussion going. It's like talking to a brick wall.

   I tried my best to make him quit smoking, but my efforts were useless. He now smokes six packs a day.

3. (derogatory, of a person) Good-for-nothing; not dependable.

   Bill never mows the lawn, takes out the trash or anything. He's useless, but I love him anyways.

4. (colloquial, of a person) Unable to do well at a particular task or thing. Useless is mildly insulting.

   My brother is useless at most computer games, but he is an awesome PS2 player.

   Why do you keep trying? You're obviously useless at it.

Synonyms

• (good-for-nothing): good-for-nothing
• (unable to do well): unskillful

Antonyms

• skillful, useful

Derived terms

• useless as tits on a boar hog
• useless as tits on a bull
• useless eater
• uselessly
• uselessness

 

Translations

without use or possibility to be used

Arabic: عَدِيمُ الْفَائِدَةِ (ʕadīmu l-fāʔidati) Armenian: անօգուտ (hy) (anōgut), անպետք (hy) (anpetkʻ) Asturian: inútil Basque: baliogabe, ezgai, hutsal Belarusian: бескары́сны (be) (bjeskarýsny) Bulgarian: безполе́зен (bg) (bezpolézen) Catalan: inútil (ca) Cebuano: walay gamit Chinese: Cantonese: 冇用 (mou5 jung6) Mandarin: 無用／无用 (zh) (wúyòng) Czech: zbytečný (cs) Danish: nytteløs (da), ubrugelig (da) Dutch: nutteloos (nl), onbruikbaar (nl) Esperanto: senutila Estonian: tarbetu Finnish: hyödytön (fi), tarpeeton (fi), turha (fi); kelvoton (fi), käyttökelvoton (fi) French: inutile (fr), inutilisable (fr) Galician: inútil Georgian: უსარგებლო (usargeblo) German: nutzlos (de), unnützlich, unnütz (de), wertlos (de), sinnlos (de) Gothic: 𐌿𐌽𐌽𐌿𐍄𐍃 (unnuts) Greek: άχρηστος (el) (áchristos) Ancient: ἀχρεῖος (akhreîos), ἄχρηστος (ákhrēstos) Hawaiian: waiwai ʻole, makehewa Hebrew: חֲסַר תוֹעֶלֶת (ḥasar to'elet) Hindi: बेकार (hi) (bekār), निरर्थक (hi) (nirarthak) Icelandic: gagnslaus Ido: (please verify) neutila (io) Indonesian: tidak berguna Ingrian: kelpaamatoin Interlingua: inusabile Irish: gan mhaith Italian: inutile (it) Japanese: 無用な (ja) (むような, muyō-na) Khiamniungan Naga: āchú Korean: 무용하다 (muyonghada), 쓸모가 없다 (sseulmoga eopda), 소용가 없다 (soyongga eopda) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: بێ سوود (bê sûd), بێ کەڵک (bê kellk) Latin: inūtilis Macedonian: некористен (nekoristen) Malay: tidak berguna Norman: innutile Norwegian: nytteløs, unyttig, ubrukelig Occitan: inutil (oc) Old English: unnytt Pashto: بې کاره (ps) (be kâra) Pitjantjatjara: (please verify) kura, (please verify) uṉa Plautdietsch: daugeniksich, nutzlooss Polish: niepotrzebny (pl), bezużyteczny (pl) Portuguese: inútil (pt), imprestável (pt) Romanian: inutil (ro), netrebuincios (ro), nefolositor (ro) Russian: бесполе́зный (ru) (bespoléznyj), нену́жный (ru) (nenúžnyj), (good-for-nothing) никчёмный (ru) (nikčómnyj) Sanskrit: विफल (sa) (viphala) Scottish Gaelic: gun fheum Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: бескористан Roman: beskoristan (sh) Slovak: zbytočný Slovene: nekoristen Spanish: inútil (es) Swedish: oanvändbar (sv), obrukbar (sv) Thai: please add this translation if you can Turkish: faydasız (tr) Ukrainian: некори́сний (nekorýsnyj) Urdu: بے کار (be-kār), فضول (fazūl) Vietnamese: vô dụng (vi) Yiddish: אומניצלעך (umnitslekh)

unhelpful, pointless

Bulgarian: безсмислен (bg) (bezsmislen) Cebuano: walay gamit Danish: meningsløs Finnish: turha (fi) French: inutile (fr) German: sinnlos (de) Greek: μάταιος (el) (mátaios) Hawaiian: makehewa Hindi: अर्थहीन (hi) (arthahīn) Indonesian: percuma (id), sia-sia (id) Italian: inutile (it) Khiamniungan Naga: āchú Latin: cassus Portuguese: inútil (pt) Scottish Gaelic: dìomhain Spanish: inútil (es) Swedish: meningslös (sv) Thai: ไม่มีประโยชน์

good-for-nothing, not dependable

Bulgarian: негоден (bg) (negoden) Cebuano: walay gamit Dutch: waardeloos (nl) Finnish: hyödytön (fi) French: bon à rien (fr) German: unnütz (de) Hindi: कुटिल (hi) (kuṭil) Indonesian: brengsek (id) Italian: inutile (it), buono a nulla Portuguese: inútil (pt), imprestável (pt) Spanish: inútil (es) Swedish: hopplös (sv), oduglig (sv)

unable to do well

Catalan: inútil (ca) Cebuano: bala, banga Chinese: Cantonese: 冇鬼用 Danish: unyttig Finnish: onneton (fi), kelvoton (fi) German: unnütz (de) Greek: άχρηστος (el) (áchristos) Indonesian: payah (id) Italian: negato (it) Japanese: 下手 (な) (へた (な), heta (na)) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: بێ کەڵک (bê kellk), ھیچوپوچ (hîçupuç) Norwegian: unyttig Bokmål: ubrukelig Pashto: بې کاره (ps) (be kâra) Portuguese: péssimo (pt) Russian: бесполе́зный (ru) (bespoléznyj), (good-for-nothing) никчёмный (ru) (nikčómnyj) Scottish Gaelic: gun fheum Spanish: inútil (es), negado (es)