: 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
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
Ayers told Fortune that thanks to bots, the use of deepfakes has increased nearly 8,000% year over year—rendering plenty of the verification software in the market useless.
—
Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2026
At first, Sherlock appears to be useless, the black sheep of his family.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026
The big risk for Perplexity, however, is if the models themselves become commodities, rendering useless a service that allows users to switch between the AIs for tasks.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 25 Feb. 2026
But other people—a lot of other people—will become useless.
—Sam Kriss, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for useless
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Catherina Gioino, Fortune, 2 Mar. 2026
At first, Sherlock appears to be useless, the black sheep of his family.
—Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 2 Mar. 2026
The big risk for Perplexity, however, is if the models themselves become commodities, rendering useless a service that allows users to switch between the AIs for tasks.
—Rachyl Jones, semafor.com, 25 Feb. 2026
But other people—a lot of other people—will become useless.
—Sam Kriss, Harpers Magazine, 24 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for useless
Cite this Entry
“Useless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/useless. Accessed 11 Mar. 2026.
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