worthless

[ wurth-lis ]

adjective

1. without worth; of no use, importance, or value; good-for-nothing:

   a worthless person; a worthless contract.

worthless

/ ˈwɜːθlɪs /

adjective

1. without practical value or usefulness
2. without merit; good-for-nothing

Derived Forms

• ˈworthlessness, noun
• ˈworthlessly, adverb

Other Words From

• worthless·ly adverb
• worthless·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of worthless¹

First recorded in 1580–90; worth ¹ + -less

Example Sentences

“Before they became something to be saved, they were just worthless,” she writes.

From The Daily Beast

He sold his worthless Current TV cable network to Al Jazeera for $500 million.

From The Daily Beast

After everything I'd gone through, leaving would have made it worthless.

From The Daily Beast

Except, of course, that green coffee is totally worthless as a weight loss supplement in the first place.

From The Daily Beast

Evidently determined to put his inquisitors in their place, he gave them a worthless answer.

From The Daily Beast

In other words, if one produces a large enough quantity of anything it becomes worthless.

From Project Gutenberg

A defective acknowledgment by a married woman is worthless, nor will any court compel her to make another one.

From Project Gutenberg

All of it was worthless—except to a man of vision—so, treading lightly, Scattergood went about acquiring what he needed.

From Project Gutenberg

They leave large holes which renders the leaf worthless for a cigar wrapper, leaving it fit only for fillers or seconds.

From Project Gutenberg

And he succeeded for the reason that his release was given without consideration and therefore was worthless.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• barren
• bogus
• futile
• inconsequential
• ineffective
• insignificant
• meaningless
• mediocre
• pointless
• unimportant
• unproductive
• unprofitable
• unusable
• useless