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Synonyms

useful

American  
[yoos-fuhl] / ˈyus fəl /

adjective

  1. 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

  2. of practical use, as for doing work; producing material results; supplying common needs.

    the useful arts; useful work.
    Synonyms:
    beneficial, efficacious, profitable
    Antonyms:
    useless
useful British  
/ ˈjuːsfʊl /

adjective

  1. able to be used advantageously, beneficially, or for several purposes; helpful or serviceable

  2. informal commendable or capable

    a useful term's work
"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. informal an odd-jobman or general factotum

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • unuseful adjective
  • unusefully adverb
  • unusefulness noun
  • usefully adverb
  • usefulness noun

Etymology

Origin of useful

First recorded in 1585–95; use + -ful

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.