helpful

[ help-fuhl ]

adjective

1. giving or rendering aid or assistance; of service:

   Your comments were very helpful.

   Synonyms: advantageous, beneficial, convenient, useful

   Antonyms: inconvenient, useless

helpful

/ ˈhɛlpfʊl /

adjective

1. serving a useful function; giving help

Derived Forms

• ˈhelpfulness, noun
• ˈhelpfully, adverb

Other Words From

• helpful·ly adverb
• helpful·ness noun
• over·helpful adjective
• over·helpful·ly adverb
• over·helpful·ness noun
• quasi-helpful adjective
• quasi-helpful·ly adverb
• un·helpful adjective
• un·helpful·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of helpful¹

First recorded in 1300–50; help + -ful

Example Sentences

“It’s hard to know if it’s helpful,” she said.

From Los Angeles Times

"And that's not a straightforward, easy thing to do. So having a fire break in between old and new is, actually, very helpful."

From BBC

"There's no magic strategy that works for every child so it's helpful for parents to seek out different sources of information and advice and try different approaches."

From Science Daily

However, since there are millions of federal employees who could conceivably be disloyal to the Dear Leader, it was extremely helpful for these outside groups to do the investigative work ahead of time.

From Salon

"Thankfully I have a very helpful writing partner who does most of the proof reading," he added.

From BBC

Related Words

• accessible
• advantageous
• applicable
• conducive
• constructive
• convenient
• cooperative
• crucial
• essential
• favorable
• friendly
• important
• invaluable
• practical
• productive
• profitable
• significant
• suitable
• supportive
• sympathetic