helped

verb

past tense of help
1
as in aided
to provide (someone) with what is useful or necessary to achieve an end offered to help her widowed father when he moved into an apartment

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in relieved
to make more bearable or less severe the new ointment didn't help Josh's sunburn one bit

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in prevented
to keep from happening by taking action in advance they couldn't help the way things turned out

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in benefited
to provide with something useful or desirable being independently wealthy certainly helped him during his years as a struggling young artist

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
5
as in improved
to make better some minor revisions would help this essay immensely

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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 helped Political candidates, media figures and even our own government have helped promote the idea Indian Americans are foreigners who threaten this country. — Raja Krishnamoorthi, Chicago Tribune, 28 Oct. 2026 And similar experiments are playing out in other locales, including in Nigeria, where a 2025 study found access to Microsoft Copilot helped students learn English. — Zoë Schiffer, semafor.com, 28 Oct. 2026 Book the educational pitaya tour to learn about the crop that helped shape the farm's identity. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2026 Fernández’s other rotation changes helped the Nets build on that start. — C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 27 Oct. 2026 The Knicks’ 2026 NBA championship helped shrink the gap further, but not as much as the decision to split into two companies—the stock rose 16% on the day of the announcement. — Kurt Badenhausen, Sportico.com, 27 Oct. 2026 Those earlier tests helped engineers evaluate the system before moving to a live missile flight. — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 21 Oct. 2026 Last year, Kort helped launch an Eat the Invaders event, bringing chefs together to channel people’s appetite for delicious food by cooking with invasive and overabundant species. — Victoria Malloy, Time, 21 Oct. 2026 Despite his history with Holmes, Carreyrou said the film ultimately helped highlight some of Holmes’ contradictions. — Marco Quiroz-Gutierrez, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for helped
  1. aided
  2. relieved
  3. prevented
  4. benefited
  5. improved
  6. assisted
  7. alleviated
  8. averted
Verb
  • Equally responsible for this Bentley’s milestone handling are the Supersports’ electronic limited-slip differential, rear-wheel steering, suspension aided by a 48-volt active anti-roll bar, and enormous carbon-silicon-carbide brakes.
    — Viju Mathew, Robb Report, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Republicans in 2010 capitalized on an economy still experiencing the recession that had aided Obama's win in 2008.
    — Ron Elving, NPR, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of aided
Verb
  • While we are relieved that Heidi has received medical care and is safe, we are outraged by this unwarranted attack on a journalist doing her job and urge a thorough investigation and follow-through from authorities.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 17 Oct. 2026
  • Because of this closeness, many at CNN seem relieved that Thompson will stay aboard.
    — Justin Klawans, TheWeek, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of relieved
Verb
  • The needs of Taiz's more than 1 million residents are now barely being met, humanitarian groups say, as access to wells is limited, desalination plants run low on fuel and water delivery trucks are largely prevented from entering the city.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Oct. 2026
  • The win also prevented Indiana from suffering its first two-game losing streak in three years under coach Curt Cignetti and marked the Hoosiers’ first victory at Michigan Stadium since 1967.
    — Chantz Martin OutKick, FOXNews.com, 24 Oct. 2026
Definition of prevented
Verb
  • That sentiment is even stronger now than in 2022, when Lula benefited from widespread opposition to Jair Bolsonaro after a presidency marked by controversy over his government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
    — Alessandra Freitas, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Stocks that have benefited from the frenzy over AI have been swinging over rising worries about their path ahead.
    — Damian J. Troise, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of benefited
Verb
  • The experiments showed that CARL improved tracking performance by up to 15 percent compared with existing methods, including during tests on physical robots.
    — Jijo Malayil, Interesting Engineering, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The Middle East improved quarterly, but remained a drag on performance, notably for Miu Miu.
    — Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of improved
Verb
  • Kapszukiewicz thanked all community agencies that helped respond to the event, including those who assisted in evacuating residents and setting up shelters.
    — Rebecca Cohen, NBC news, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Spero said that Pangram is calibrated to call something AI-assisted only if the tool is extremely confident in its analysis.
    — T.M. Brown, CNN Money, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of assisted
Verb
  • Around the same time, fears of a smaller Chinese crop brought about by an exceptionally hot summer in Xinjiang were alleviated by stronger-than-expected yields.
    — SJ Guest Editorial, Footwear News, 16 Oct. 2026
  • There are no guarantees that polling’s troubles – and persistent popular skepticism about the dependability of election polls – will be alleviated anytime soon.
    — W. Joseph Campbell, The Conversation, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of alleviated
Verb
  • Jackson averted a suspension ahead of this season when authorities declined to file formal criminal charges after he was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic violence.
    — Steve Henson, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Each time the door shut behind the man, Shawn had the feeling that some danger had been temporarily dodged, some crisis averted until the next day.
    — Rachel Heng, New Yorker, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of averted

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Cite this Entry

“Helped.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/helped. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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