useless

adjective

use·​less ˈyüs-ləs 

: having or being of no use:

a

: ineffectual

a useless attempt

b

: not doing or not able to do what is needed

a dull, useless knife

An antibiotic is useless in treating this disease.

uselessly adverb

uselessness noun

Synonyms of useless

• impractical
• unusable
• unsuitable

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

Ensuring that intelligence accumulated through one robot does not become useless when the hardware changes. — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 15 Aug. 2026

Even the useless adults of The Shards would surely act quickly to arrest Robert with this much evidence. — Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2026

Talarico calls Big Bend border wall 'useless' Democratic candidate James Talarico reacted to images of bulldozers at Big Bend in an X post. — Natassia Paloma, USA Today, 11 Aug. 2026

Hiring for learning speed is easier to say than to test for, and a resume is close to useless for it. — Terdawn Deboe, Forbes.com, 10 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

useless

adjective

use·​less ˈyüs-ləs 

: having or being of no use

uselessly adverb

uselessness noun