useful
Americanadjective
-
being of use or service; serving some purpose; advantageous, helpful, or of good effect.
a useful member of society.
- Synonyms:
- beneficial, efficacious, profitable
- Antonyms:
- useless
-
of practical use, as for doing work; producing material results; supplying common needs.
the useful arts; useful work.
- Synonyms:
- beneficial, efficacious, profitable
- Antonyms:
- useless
adjective
-
able to be used advantageously, beneficially, or for several purposes; helpful or serviceable
-
informal commendable or capable
a useful term's work
noun
Other Word Forms
- unuseful adjective
- unusefully adverb
- unusefulness noun
- usefully adverb
- usefulness noun
Etymology
Origin of useful
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"We need to rebuild trust with the member states. We need to regain the belief that the UN is useful to solve problems," she said, vowing to bring her personal qualities to the task.
From Barron's
It is useful for the standard romance too, such as when a billionaire love interest is shown driving his luxury car.
From BBC
“When nobody has information that is actually useful to determine the outcome of that market, you’re just plain gambling.”
From Barron's
For years, researchers and industry leaders have tried to find ways to convert these simple hydrocarbons directly into useful chemicals instead of burning them.
From Science Daily
On the plus side, U.S. officials have determined Grok to be effective at imitating an adversarial actor, which is useful for example in war gaming, people familiar with the discussions said.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
