Need another word that means the same as “useless”? Find 31 synonyms and 30 related words for “useless” in this overview.
The synonyms of “Useless” are: futile, pointless, purposeless, impractical, vain, in vain, to no purpose, to no avail, unavailing, bootless, nugatory, hopeless, unusable, ineffectual, inefficacious, impotent, fruitless, unprofitable, profitless, unproductive, unachievable, sisyphean, incompetent, ineffective, worthless, incapable, inept, inadequate, weak, bad, no good
According to the Oxford Dictionary of English, “useless” as an adjective can have the following definitions:
bad | Feeling physical discomfort or pain tough is occasionally used colloquially for bad. A bad diet. |
bootless | Unproductive of success. Remonstrating with him seems ever to have been a bootless task. |
fruitless | Failing to achieve the desired results; unproductive or useless. A banana leaf from a fruitless palm. |
futile | Producing no result or effect. A futile attempt to keep fans from mounting the stage. |
hopeless | (informal to emphasize how bad it is) beyond hope of management or reform. The situation is hopeless. |
impotent | (of a man) abnormally unable to achieve an erection. He was seized with an impotent anger. |
impractical | Not practical; not workable or not given to practical matters. Impractical high heels. |
in vain | Currently fashionable. |
inadequate | Lacking the quality or quantity required; insufficient for a purpose. Inadequate funding. |
incapable | Unable to behave rationally or manage one’s affairs. Incapable of carrying a tune. |
incompetent | Showing lack of skill or aptitude. An incompetent secret service. |
ineffective | Lacking the ability or skill to perform effectively; inadequate. An ineffective administration. |
ineffectual | Lacking in power or forcefulness. An ineffectual campaign. |
inefficacious | Not producing the desired effect. Laws that are inefficacious in stopping crime. |
inept | Not elegant or graceful in expression. Inept handling of the account. |
no good | Quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns for indicating a complete or almost complete lack or zero quantity of. |
nugatory | Useless or futile. A nugatory law. |
pointless | Having little or no sense, use, or purpose. My pencils are all pointless. |
profitless | Without profit or reward. A long and profitless public row. |
purposeless | Having no aim or plan. A life essentially purposeless. |
sisyphean | Both extremely effortful and futile. |
to no avail | Quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns for indicating a complete or almost complete lack or zero quantity of. |
to no purpose | Quantifier; used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns for indicating a complete or almost complete lack or zero quantity of. |
unachievable | (of an aim or objective) too difficult to be achieved. An unachievable political goal. |
unavailing | Achieving little or nothing; ineffective. An unavailing attempt. |
unproductive | Not producing desired results. Unproductive meetings. |
unprofitable | (of a business or activity) not yielding profit or financial gain. The mines became increasingly unprofitable. |
unusable | Not fit to be used. The steps were overgrown and unusable. |
vain | Having no likelihood of fulfilment; empty. A vain boast. |
weak | Relating to or denoting the weakest of the known kinds of force between particles which acts only at distances less than about 10 cm is very much weaker than the electromagnetic and the strong interactions and conserves neither strangeness parity nor isospin. Their problems arose from fielding weak teams in league matches. |
worthless | Lacking in usefulness or value. That promise is worthless. |
bootless | Unproductive of success. Remonstrating with him seems ever to have been a bootless task. |
breakage | The quantity broken. There had been three breakages in the overhead wires. |
counterproductive | Having the opposite of the desired effect. Child experts fear the Executive s plans may prove counterproductive. |
execrable | Extremely bad or unpleasant. Execrable crimes. |
fruitless | (of a tree or plant) not producing fruit. A banana leaf from a fruitless palm. |
futile | Producing no result or effect. A futile effort. |
futilely | In a futile and unproductive manner. |
garbage | Rubbish or waste, especially domestic refuse. A garbage dump. |
gratuitous | Unnecessary and unwarranted. Gratuitous violence. |
ineffective | Lacking in power or forcefulness. A weak and ineffective president. |
ineffectual | (of a person) lacking the ability or qualities to fulfil a role or handle a situation. An ineffectual campaign. |
inefficiency | The state of not achieving maximum productivity; failure to make the best use of time or resources. The idea is to eliminate inefficiency creating a seamless manufacturing process. |
infertile | (of land) unable to sustain crops or vegetation. An infertile couple. |
invalid | No longer valid. An officer invalided by a chest wound. |
misfire | (of a nerve cell) fail to transmit an electrical impulse at an appropriate moment. He didn t know that his plan had misfired. |
nihilism | The doctrine of an extreme Russian revolutionary party c.1900 which found nothing to approve of in the established social order. |
nugatory | Useless or futile. The teacher shortages will render nugatory the hopes of implementing the new curriculum. |
obsolete | Cause a product or idea to become obsolete by replacing it with something new. The phrase was obsolete after 1625. |
paltry | Contemptibly small in amount. A paltry wage. |
powerless | Without ability, influence, or power. Troops were powerless to stop last night s shooting. |
superfluous | More than is needed, desired, or required. The purchaser should avoid asking for superfluous information. |
trivia | Something of small importance. We fill our days with meaningless trivia. |
trivial | Concerned with trivialities. Trivial details. |
unavailing | Producing no result or effect. An unavailing attempt. |
unproductive | Not producing or able to produce large amounts of goods, crops, or other commodities. Unproductive land must be reforested. |
vain | Having no likelihood of fulfilment; empty. A vain attempt. |
valueless | Of no value. Cherished but valueless heirlooms. |
void | Declare that (something) is not valid or legally binding. What were once the masterpieces of literature are now void of meaning. |
wasted | (of an action) not producing the desired result. A wasted effort. |
worthless | Morally reprehensible. A worthless idler. |
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