Useful

How to spell useful

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce useful

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does useful mean?

1. adjectiveAble to be used for a practical purpose or to good effect.

Useful in a sentence

• The spare key proved useful when she locked herself out.

• A good map is useful on long road trips.

Where does useful come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word is built from the noun and verb 'use', which English took from Old French 'us' and the verb 'user', themselves descended from the Latin 'usus', meaning 'a using' or 'employment', and the verb 'uti', meaning 'to use' or 'to make use of'. To this borrowed root English added its own native suffix '-ful', a thoroughly Germanic ending meaning 'full of' or 'characterised by', the same element seen in 'helpful' and 'careful'. The combined form 'useful' began appearing in the late 1500s, neatly fusing a Latin-derived root with an English ending. A reliable spelling cue is that '-ful' as a suffix always carries a single 'l', unlike the standalone adjective 'full'. So although you write 'a full cup', you write 'useful' with just one 'l', and the same single-l rule governs hopeful, grateful and skilful.

How the word is built

• use (from Latin usus: a using, employment)
• -ful (adjective suffix: full of, characterised by)