useless

adjective

use·​less ˈyüs-ləs How to pronounce useless (audio)
Synonyms of uselessnext
: 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
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.
The underwater navigation itself is also power-hungry, as the robot has to rely on inertial sensors and acoustic Doppler velocity logging to track its position, since satellite navigation is useless once it's submerged. New Atlas, 5 July 2026 At any rate, upon election my first official act would be to file legislation to do away with the useless job. Peter Lucas, Boston Herald, 2 July 2026 An ultra-secure cloud environment is useless if the identity management policy is lax or if access privileges are not reviewed on a strict need-to-know basis. Vicente Pava, Forbes.com, 2 July 2026 The six Republican appointees said those protections were effectively useless and not binding. Leah Litman, The Atlantic, 26 June 2026 See All Example Sentences for useless

Word History

First Known Use

1593, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of useless was in 1593

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Useless.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/useless. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Kids Definition

useless

adjective
use·​less ˈyüs-ləs How to pronounce useless (audio)
: having or being of no use
uselessly adverb
uselessness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on useless

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster