useless

English

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃eyt-der.?

Proto-Italic *oitōr

Latin ūtor

Proto-Indo-European *-tus

Proto-Italic *-tus

Latin -tus

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)
(Australia, 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)

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.
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.
(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.
(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

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)