helped

verb

past tense of help
1
as in aided
to provide (someone) with what is useful or necessary to achieve an end offered to help her widowed father when he moved into an apartment

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2
as in relieved
to make more bearable or less severe the new ointment didn't help Josh's sunburn one bit

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in prevented
to keep from happening by taking action in advance they couldn't help the way things turned out

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4
as in benefited
to provide with something useful or desirable being independently wealthy certainly helped him during his years as a struggling young artist

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5
as in improved
to make better some minor revisions would help this essay immensely

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of helped Those earlier tests helped engineers evaluate the system before moving to a live missile flight. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026 Last year, Kort helped launch an Eat the Invaders event, bringing chefs together to channel people’s appetite for delicious food by cooking with invasive and overabundant species. — Victoria Malloy, Time, 21 Oct. 2026 Despite his history with Holmes, Carreyrou said the film ultimately helped highlight some of Holmes’ contradictions. — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026 Lucrative contracts with local authority libraries and educational administrations helped bolster the bottom line. — Literary Hub, 20 Oct. 2026 The convenience of early voting has helped drive up turnout ahead of Election Day in recent cycles, Dickerson said. — Mary Ramsey, Charlotte Observer, 20 Oct. 2026 Blanco's group also helped Eliza Perez, a 21-year-old from Florida, who is taking care of her three younger siblings after her two parents were deported two days before Thanksgiving last year. — ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026 Making Data Exploration More Interactive Traditional automation has helped healthcare organizations make individual tasks more efficient. — Sujay Jadhav, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 2026 This year's prize honored work that helped lay the foundations for New Keynesian economics. — Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 13 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for helped
  1. aided
  2. relieved
  3. prevented
  4. benefited
  5. improved
  6. assisted
  7. alleviated
  8. averted
Verb
  • But the defense was also aided by the excellence of transfer punter John Hoyet Chance.
    — Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 19 Oct. 2026
  • It's aided by an active suspension system that lowers the car.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of aided
Verb
  • When a county judge put the brakes on what would be the largest data center in California, ruling the whole project needed extensive environmental review, Kristian Salgado was relieved.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The White Sox loaded the bases in the sixth inning before Erik Sabrowski relieved Williams and struck out Murakami.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 11 Oct. 2026
Definition of relieved
Verb
  • That strike prevented the landing of an Iranian flight carrying a Houthi delegation returning from the funeral of Iran’s supreme leader, who had been killed in the opening strikes of the war in February.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 18 Oct. 2026
  • The wild swing of events gave the Wildcats (5-1, 2-1) their first Big Ten road victory this season and prevented Fitzgerald from getting his first conference victory as the coach at Michigan State (2-5, 0-4).
    — Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of prevented
Verb
  • Carolina’s offense also benefited from the return of right tackle Taylor Moton, who missed the season’s first four games due to multiple blood clots.
    — Scott Fowler, Charlotte Observer, 18 Oct. 2026
  • Stevens, one of Israel's staunchest supporters in Congress, benefited from roughly $30 million in spending by groups affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 17 Oct. 2026
Definition of benefited
Verb
  • Holden’s ear for beats has steadily improved to fit his breakneck delivery since 2022, peaking with 2025’s Mulberry Silk Road, which was primarily laced by German producer 2000 Souls and executive-produced by Marciano.
    — Matthew Ritchie, Pitchfork, 15 Oct. 2026
  • In the best-case scenario, those flaws can be worked through and improved upon as the Leafs settle in and get used to new systems and new teammates.
    — James Mirtle, New York Times, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of improved
Verb
  • In just their seventh game of the season, Brady scored a hat trick on Tuesday night, with each of his goals being assisted by Matthew, who had two other assists on the night.
    — Ryan Morik OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
  • McDavid and Draisaitl assisted on Podkolzin's empty-net goal.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of assisted
Verb
  • Around the same time, fears of a smaller Chinese crop brought about by an exceptionally hot summer in Xinjiang were alleviated by stronger-than-expected yields.
    — SJ Guest Editorial, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • There are no guarantees that polling’s troubles – and persistent popular skepticism about the dependability of election polls – will be alleviated anytime soon.
    — W. Joseph Campbell, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of alleviated
Verb
  • Jackson averted a suspension ahead of this season when authorities declined to file formal criminal charges after he was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
    — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Each time the door shut behind the man, Shawn had the feeling that some danger had been temporarily dodged, some crisis averted until the next day.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of averted

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Cite this Entry

“Helped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/helped. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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