Useful meaning of word

Last Updated:
11 Apr 2023
— Updated example sentences

In this workshop, children are invited to make educational and useful toys — ‘useful’ in the sense that they help with a child’s early development, providing stimulation, exercise, use of the senses, and learning of skills. ❋ Unknown (1999)

Let a child be employed — take an interest in his employment, let him fancy that he is useful — _and he is useful_, he is laying in a stock of health. ❋ Pye Henry Chavasse (1844)

Exactly the same difficulty arises, when we endeavour to account for the development of the moral sense or conscience in savage man; for although the _practice_ of benevolence, honesty, or truth, may have been useful to the tribe possessing these virtues, that does not at all account for the peculiar _sanctity_, attached to actions which each tribe considers right and moral, as contrasted with the very different feelings with which they regard what is merely _useful_. ❋ Alfred Russel Wallace (1868)

Carnot’s experiments also showed that thermodynamic laws are essentially economic formulations of physical relations, for the terms ’useful’ and ’unavailable’ energy refer to the economy’s ability to use energy to upgrade the organizational state of natural resources into useful goods and services. ❋ Unknown (2008)

The word useful came out with a spiteful, bitter twist. ❋ Jennifer Weiner (2010)

Stalin was possibly an atheist however I doubt he would even consider the term useful as he was a communist above all. ❋ Unknown (2007)

The right invented the term useful idiot to describe those who were being used and manipulated by the commies. ❋ Unknown (2006)

Read THE ANTI-WAR NUMBERS GAME, archived below. tadair919 you ever hear the term useful idiots? that’s when people ally themselves with the naive because they dutifully tow the same line. it’s … ❋ Unknown (2009)

— Lang Sui Now that’s what I call a useful letter. ❋ Unknown (2008)

But first we must agree on what we describe as useful— useful to whom, to what, for what ? ❋ Tusar N Mohapatra (2006)

She used to beg Meyer to look for what she called useful actors and actresses, by which she meant adaptable people who could pour themselves into the mould of a part and who did not depend upon individual tricks. ❋ Marsh, Ngaio, 1895-1982 (1937)

He’d be what I call useful just now, Mrs.C. —ha, ha! ❋ Unknown (1917)

«Yes, Madam Budd,» he answered, «it is quite as you say, and I am only surprised where you have picked up so much of what I call useful nautical knowledge.» ❋ James Fenimore Cooper (1820)

«I’m what they call a useful idiot,» she said with a laugh. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Of course, the endeavor was always mostly about ever more effective methods of mass murder, so ‘useful‘ is a bit debatable. ❋ Unknown (2007)

I think graphic designers need to be polymaths, and the idea of turning up my nose at something I didn’t think was immediately relevant or «useful» is anathema to me. ❋ Jonathan (2004)

That’s a useful [putt] there.
[My dog] just bit that guy…useful [pup] that is. ❋ Been Jammin (2006)

That [Sparkle Motion] dance [skit] from [Donnie Darko] was really useful. ❋ The Real Boyardee (2011)

[All your base] are [belong] to ❋ Anonymous (2003)

I [email protected]#$[ing] [love] The Used ❋ Deb (2004)

You + Me = [Us].
When you and [I are] [together], we form an [us]. ❋ Lauren G-Unit (2006)

I’m «used to» living in [the city] since [I moved] to it a year [ago] from the country. ❋ Just What I Was Thinking (2007)

Joseph: ur mom gay
[Stalin]: no us
*[soviet union] [anthem] plays*
*everyone salutes and starts crying* ❋ Stalindidnothingwrong (2018)

«[the used] are [my favorite] band» *[nods]* ❋ Etchasketch (2003)

He [dropped off] the face of the earth because he used her and instead of [being a man] and telling her he wasn’t interested he went [missing in action]. ❋ JamaicanGirl (2014)

[Cop]: [Hey kid] are you using?
Kid: No [officer], never. ❋ Jared R (2004)

English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

• usefull

Etymology[edit]

From use +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation[edit]

• IPA^(key): /ˈjuːsfəl/

Adjective[edit]

useful (comparative more useful or usefuller, superlative most useful or usefullest)

1. Having a practical or beneficial use.

   Synonyms: noteful, serviceable, utilitarian, utile

   Antonyms: unuseful, useless, harmful

   • 1960 December, Cecil J. Allen, “Operating a mountain main line: the Bern-Lötschberg-Simplon: Part One”, in Trains Illustrated, page 743:

     In the early days troubles were experienced with oscillation from the rod drive and with the transformers, but were overcome later, and these machines performed useful service until superseded by more modern locomotives less costly in maintenance.

   • 2013 July–August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:

     Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

Usage notes[edit]

• Prepositions: useful is used in useful for <purpose>, useful for <person> and useful to <person>. The words useful to are also found in constructions such as It is useful to do, in which to marks an infinitive rather than being a preposition.

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

• Defenition of the word useful

  • Having a practical or beneficial use.
  • Being fit for a specific task.
  • capable of being turned to use or account; «useful applications of calculus»
  • being of use or service; «the girl felt motherly and useful»; «a useful job»; «a useful member of society»
  • of great importance or use or service; «useful information»; «valuable advice»
  • having a useful function; «utilitarian steel tables»
  • having a useful function
  • being of use or service

Synonyms for the word useful

• • advantageous
  • beneficial
  • constructive
  • convenient
  • effective
  • expedient
  • functional
  • handy
  • helpful
  • informative
  • nifty
  • of use
  • of value
  • positive
  • practical
  • utile
  • utilitarian
  • valuable
  • worthwhile

Similar words in the useful

• • effective
  • effectual
  • efficacious
  • expedient
  • functional
  • helpful
  • important
  • multipurpose
  • of import
  • practical
  • profitable
  • reclaimable
  • recyclable
  • reusable
  • serviceable
  • usable
  • useable
  • useful
  • utilitarian
  • utilizable

Hypernyms for the word useful

• • good

Antonyms for the word useful

• • useless

See other words

• • What is uncouth
  • The definition of uncivilized
  • The interpretation of the word unbroken
  • What is meant by unbelievable
  • The lexical meaning ugly
  • The dictionary meaning of the word ubiquitous
  • The grammatical meaning of the word truthy
  • Meaning of the word trenchant
  • Literal and figurative meaning of the word transparent
  • The origin of the word useless
  • Synonym for the word venereal
  • Antonyms for the word vengeful
  • Homonyms for the word venomous
  • Hyponyms for the word venous
  • Holonyms for the word vicarious
  • Hypernyms for the word violent
  • Proverbs and sayings for the word visible
  • Translation of the word in other languages vivid