Pronunciation IPA (key): /ˈhɛlp.fʊl/ or /ˈhɛlp.fəl/ Audio (US)(file) Audio (US)(file) Hyphenation: help‧ful Adjective Positive helpful Comparative more helpful Superlative most helpful If something is helpful it can or does help in some way. The way you explained that word was very helpful to me. The shop keeper was very helpful in telling use how we could cook the food in the shop.Wikiwand - on Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.