Useless

How to spell useless

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce useless

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does useless mean?

1. adjectiveHaving no practical use, value, or effect.

Useless in a sentence

• The old printer is now completely useless since the drivers stopped working.

• Without a charger, the phone is useless on a long trip.

Where does useless come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This word is a compound built inside English from the noun and verb 'use' and the native suffix '-less'. The 'use' element travelled into English in the 1200s through Old French 'user', which descended from the Latin verb 'uti' and its noun 'usus', meaning the act of employing or making practical application of something. The ending '-less' is far older and thoroughly native: it comes from the Old English 'leas', meaning 'free from', 'without', or 'lacking', the same element you see in 'hopeless', 'careless', and 'fearless'. Joined together, the parts literally describe something 'without use', which is exactly the modern meaning of being of no practical value. A useful spelling note is that there is only one 's' where the root meets the suffix, since the word is simply 'use' plus 'less', not a doubled form.

How the word is built

• use (from Latin usus: employment, application)
• -less (Old English -leas: without, lacking)