useless

adjective

use·​less ˈyüs-ləs How to pronounce useless (audio)
: having or being of no use:
a
: ineffectual
a useless attempt
b
: not able to give service or aid : inept
uselessly adverb
uselessness noun

Examples of useless in a Sentence

The tent is useless in wet conditions. I made a useless attempt at fixing the leak. Drugs are useless in treating the condition.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
If a fan’s only window into football analytics is a contextless statistic that flashes on the screen, though, then they might be justified in thinking data was useless. Mark Carey, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2025 And arguing with the benefits of a difficult tuneup game can be a useless point, especially as Napier stumbled in from a practice that ran almost 10 minutes long, gearing up for USF. Noah White, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025 This method is a significant departure from traditional chemical recycling techniques like pyrolysis, which operate at lower temperatures (450–600°C) and produce over a hundred different by-products, many of which are useless. Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 Sep. 2025 Economists usually look at new jobs, but immigration is now very low, making that figure useless as a measure of how the economy is doing. Bill Conerly, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2025 See All Example Sentences for useless

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of useless was in 1593

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Cite this Entry

“Useless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/useless. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Kids Definition

useless

adjective
use·​less ˈyüs-ləs How to pronounce useless (audio)
: having or being of no use
uselessly adverb
uselessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on useless

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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