1
as in vulnerable
lacking protection from danger or resistance against attack
after the storm we found a helpless baby bird that had fallen out of its nest
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in paralyzed
unable to act or achieve one's purpose
we watched, feeling helpless, as the vase slipped from her hand and crashed to the floor
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of helpless
Djokovic was helpless when another forehand winner flew past him to set up a break point in the next game.
—
Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 29 May 2026
Marine Rousseau, 41, was taken into custody Thursday with Marc Ballabriga, 55, two days after the couple allegedly dumped her helpless 3- and 5-year-old children in a remote forest and left, according to Portuguese and French media.
—Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
No electricity, ventilators In the ICU, nurse Tammy Fritchey feels helpless.
—Kansas City Star, 22 May 2026
Hormones grow the helpless newborn into a rough-and-tumble toddler who gains height through the hormones that lengthen the bones.
—Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for helpless
Charlie Eccleshare, New York Times, 29 May 2026
Marine Rousseau, 41, was taken into custody Thursday with Marc Ballabriga, 55, two days after the couple allegedly dumped her helpless 3- and 5-year-old children in a remote forest and left, according to Portuguese and French media.
—Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
No electricity, ventilators In the ICU, nurse Tammy Fritchey feels helpless.
—Kansas City Star, 22 May 2026
Hormones grow the helpless newborn into a rough-and-tumble toddler who gains height through the hormones that lengthen the bones.
—Literary Hub, 20 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for helpless
Recent Examples of Synonyms for helpless
Adjective
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Wildfire resiliency advocates are warning that the loss of these funds will leave the state vulnerable to devastation, and are calling on California’s next governor to take that threat seriously.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 May 2026
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Why are school lunches still vulnerable to industry pressure?—
Ed Gaskin,
Boston Herald,
30 May 2026
Adjective
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Three All Saints Episcopal School students lured a fourth student to participate in a TikTok challenge this month that became a catastrophic assault, leaving the boy unconscious for several minutes, temporarily paralyzed and with fractured vertebrae, according to a lawsuit filed this week.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
29 May 2026
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Samuelson has been left paralyzed from the chest down due to the bullet lodged in his spine.—
Todd Feurer,
CBS News,
27 May 2026
Adjective
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Peaches are susceptible to several diseases, including peach leaf curl, brown rot, bacterial spot, and peach scab, as well as plum curculio and other pests.—
Kim Toscano,
Southern Living,
30 May 2026
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Commercial country music, a format of songwriting that is at least somewhat reliant on wordplay and the constant re-arranging of a familiar set of symbols (trucks, mud, whiskey, and so forth), can be particularly susceptible to the accusations.—
Jonathan Bernstein,
Rolling Stone,
30 May 2026
Adjective
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As the story goes, attendance was weak, the weather was bad, and the tournament experience was just lacking.—
James Burky,
Denver Post,
29 May 2026
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As many as 40 states combine one-party control with institutional barriers weak enough to fall to political pressure.—
Bruce Sibley,
Time,
29 May 2026
Adjective
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Feeling powerless driving a CATS bus At times, drivers work on high alert, unsure whether passengers who are threatening them will get physical, the former bus drivers said.—
Caitlin McGlade,
Charlotte Observer,
2 June 2026
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Trump will do his utmost to remind them of their painful and powerless present.—
Idrees Kahloon,
The Atlantic,
1 June 2026
Adjective
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This approach seemed common when authorities were uninterested or incompetent.—
Peter Hessler,
New Yorker,
31 May 2026
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Court records from an earlier criminal case show Parker had previously been found mentally incompetent to stand trial and ordered to a state hospital for treatment.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
30 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Helpless.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/helpless. Accessed 5 Jun. 2026.
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