useless

adjective

use·​less ˈyüs-ləs How to pronounce useless (audio)
Synonyms of uselessnext
: having or being of no use:
a
: ineffectual
a useless attempt
b
: not doing or not able to do what is needed
a dull, useless knife
An antibiotic is useless in treating this disease.
uselessly adverb
uselessness noun

Synonyms of useless

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of useless in a Sentence

The tent is useless in wet conditions. I made a useless attempt at fixing the leak. Drugs are useless in treating the condition.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Simply put, the satellite connection would allow Russian operators to steer drones and missiles directly, rendering useless the electronic-warfare network Ukraine has built across the country to jam them. — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2026 But without a realistic training environment, the training and testing becomes useless. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 16 Oct. 2026 The frame of the Universal Wawona 3 tent comes together with three poles of the same size, eliminating the need for designers to use color coding that would be useless to the visually impaired to signal which pole goes where. — Rae Witte, Time, 15 Oct. 2026 Giving batteries second life EV batteries can lose the capacity needed for driving without becoming useless. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2026 See All Example Sentences for useless

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of useless was in 1593

Browse Nearby Words

use inheritance
useless
usen
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Useless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/useless. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

useless

adjective
use·​less ˈyüs-ləs How to pronounce useless (audio)
: having or being of no use
uselessly adverb
uselessness noun
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of compunction

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All