useless

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Italic *oissos

Latin ūsus

Old French usbor.

Middle English use

English use

Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der.

Proto-Germanic *leusaną

Proto-Germanic *lausaz

Proto-Germanic *-lausaz

Proto-West Germanic *-laus

Old English -lēas

Middle English -les

English -less

English useless

From use + -less.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈjuːs.ləs/
• (Standard Southern British) IPA^(key): /ˈjʉws.ləs/
• (General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈjus.ləs/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (Australian, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈjʉːs.ləs/
• (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈjʉs.ləs/
• (Wales) IPA^(key): /ˈɪʊs.ləs/
• Rhymes: -uːsləs

Adjective

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

1. Without use or the 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).

   Synonym: void

   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, somewhat derogatory) Of a person, Unable to do well at a particular task or endeavor.

   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 class
• useless eater
• useless lesbian
• uselessly
• uselessness
• Uselessnet

Translations

without use or possibility to be used

Arabic: عَدِيمُ الْفَائِدَةِ (ʕadīmu l-fāʔidati) Armenian: անօգուտ (hy) (anōgut), անպետք (hy) (anpetkʻ) Asturian: inútil Azerbaijani: yararsız, faydasız (az) 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 Greek: 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) 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 Naga: Khiamniungan Naga: āchú Norman: innutile Norwegian: nytteløs, unyttig, ubrukelig Occitan: inutil (oc) Old English: unnytt Pashto: بې کاره (ps) (be kâra) Persian: بی فایده (fa) (bi-fâyede) 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 Latin: 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) Latin: cassus Naga: Khiamniungan Naga: āchú 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)