useful

adjective

use·ful | \ ˈyüs-fəl

Definition of useful

1 : capable of being put to use especially : serviceable for an end or purpose useful tools

2 : of a valuable or productive kind do something useful with your life

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Examples of useful in a Sentence

Does anyone have any useful suggestions? It can be useful to know CPR. The Internet is useful for finding information quickly. She has become one of the team's most useful players. Why don't you do something useful with your life?

Recent Examples on the Web

According the acupuncturists, one of the useful pressure points on your body can be found on your hand, located on the webbed area between your thumb and forefinger. — Carolyn Twersky, Seventeen, "Why Do Couples Hold Hands?," 4 Jan. 2019 The second weakness, though, may prove to be the most useful. — Rachel Kaufman, Smithsonian, "Three Ways Bats Could Bounce Back From Devastating White Nose Syndrome," 18 June 2018 Still, what’s useful about the film is its implication that pharmaceutical companies, insurance providers, and litigators have made the experience of birthing within the American healthcare system a challenging minefield to navigate. — Danielle Jackson, Longreads, "A Frustrating Year of Reporting on Black Maternal Health," 14 June 2018 Understanding a wide variety of methods can be useful to figure out which one is the best for your message. — Lucy Diavolo, Teen Vogue, "5 Protest Tactics We Loved in 2018," 29 Dec. 2018 The converted Ohio ships are so useful the Navy is adding more missile silos to existing Virginia submarines to fill the gap as the Ohios are retired in the 2020s, then build five more ships to replace them outright. — Kyle Mizokami, Popular Mechanics, "The Navy Is Preparing to Counter a Submarine Shortage," 28 Nov. 2018 Other apps might be useful later on, but don’t need space on your phone right now. — Josie Colt, WIRED, "How To Free Up Space on Your iPhone," 6 July 2018 Snaps are useful as a way to keep up to date with desktop apps that may be developing faster than Ubuntu's package maintainers can package them. — Scott Gilbertson, Ars Technica, "The 2018 XPS 13 Developer’s Edition—Have it your way on a “just works” Linux laptop," 12 Dec. 2018 Either way, the Wet/Dry sack accessory will prove useful for keeping the wet and dry stuff separated after a day on the water or snow. — Thomas Ricker, The Verge, "‘The world’s most versatile waterproof backpack’ review," 20 Nov. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'useful.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

17 Jan 2019

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Time Traveler for useful

The first known use of useful was in 1595

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More Definitions for useful

useful

adjective

English Language Learners Definition of useful

: helping to do or achieve something

See the full definition for useful in the English Language Learners Dictionary

useful

adjective

use·ful | \ ˈyüs-fəl

Kids Definition of useful

1 : capable of being put to use : usable useful scraps of material

2 : helpful in doing or achieving something If you are ever planning a vacation, you may find it useful to acquire a guidebook …— Lemony Snicket, The Miserable Mill