English

Adjective

useful ‎(comparative usefuller or more useful, superlative usefullest or most useful)

1. Having a practical or beneficial use.
   • 2013 July-August, Lee S. Langston, “The Adaptable Gas Turbine”, in American Scientist:

     Turbines have been around for a long time—windmills and water wheels are early examples. The name comes from the Latin turbo, meaning vortex, and thus the defining property of a turbine is that a fluid or gas turns the blades of a rotor, which is attached to a shaft that can perform useful work.

Usage notes

• Prepositions: useful is used in useful for <purpose>, useful for <person> and useful to <person>. The words useful to are also found in construction such as It is useful to do, in which to marks an infinitive rather than being a preposition.

Synonyms

• noteful
• serviceable
• utilitarian

Antonyms

• unuseful
• useless
• harmful

Related terms

• usefully
• usefulness

Translations