unhelpful

adjective

un·​help·​ful ˌən-ˈhelp-fəl How to pronounce unhelpful (audio)
Southern often -ˈhep-
also -ˈheəp-
: offering no assistance : not helpful
a rude, unhelpful person
a confusing and unhelpful textbook
unhelpfully adverb
unhelpfulness noun

Examples of unhelpful in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Even the happier videos came with a cost, inviting unhelpful comparisons between myself and other moms. Lindsay Lowe, Parents, 8 Nov. 2025 Dieting doesn’t work over the long term Dieting is also largely unhelpful, Erlanger noted. CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025 Yet the claim that our public-health mistakes can be pinned on some special force called groupthink is both unhelpful and misguided. David Merritt Johns, The Atlantic, 2 Nov. 2025 The researchers then interviewed runners to understand what types of cheering had seemed helpful or unhelpful. Alex Hutchinson, Outside, 15 Oct. 2025 See All Example Sentences for unhelpful

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1616, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unhelpful was circa 1616

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Cite this Entry

“Unhelpful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unhelpful. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.

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