HELPLESSLY Synonyms: 98 Similar and Opposite Words

helpless

adjective

ˈhel-pləs

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of helpless Mick Vinter then put the Second Division side ahead with a shot from outside the penalty area before Dixie McNeil capped a stunning fightback three minutes later by volleying another Fox cross past a helpless Shilton. —

Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026 Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum are the two helpless parents of a sensitive eight-year-old (Mason Reeves) who is deeply shaken after accidentally witnessing a horrific crime at a local park in Beth de Araújo’s devastating portrait of childhood trauma. —

Radhika Seth, Vogue, 6 Jan. 2026 David Szalay’s recent novel Flesh captures with unsparing accuracy the consciousness of an ordinary man in helpless decline. —

Kevin Power, The New York Review of Books, 25 Dec. 2025 Democrats insisted the survivors were helpless and should have been rescued to comply with international laws that call for either sides in a conflict to help combatants who fall overboard or are shipwrecked. —

Anne Flaherty, ABC News, 16 Dec. 2025 See All Example Sentences for helpless

Recent Examples of Synonyms for helpless

Adjective

Democracy is challenged through disinformation Media literacy has been part of the Finnish educational curriculum since the 1990s, and additional courses are available for older adults who might be especially vulnerable to misinformation.

— James Brooks, Los Angeles Times, 13 Jan. 2026
Installing barriers like snow fencing protects these vulnerable spots from winter kill, discourages salt and road debris caused by ploughing, and keeps your lawn from becoming bumpy and uneven.

— Barbara Gillette, The Spruce, 13 Jan. 2026