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Meaning of useful in English:

useful

Pronunciation /ˈjuːsfʊl/ /ˈjuːsf(ə)l/

See synonyms for useful

Translate useful into Spanish

adjective

  • 1Able to be used for a practical purpose or in several ways.

    ‘aspirins are useful for headaches’
    • ‘It means the building is going to be cared for and used and will serve a useful purpose for the community.’
    • ‘At least it felt like I was doing a proper job and something with a useful purpose.’
    • ‘The flight served no useful purpose at all: there was no need or compulsion to join it.’
    • ‘See, that old webcam you've got stuffed away in a box really can be useful after all.’
    • ‘They were also able to gather useful data from the tyre pressure monitoring system.’
    • ‘We think this is a useful service and we hope you like it too but it is only fair that we tell you how this is done.’
    • ‘It would have been useful to examine whether advice and money had changed practice.’
    • ‘This time we were able to persuade her that this was not a useful tactic and to amend the behaviour.’
    • ‘It does appear that she is capable of providing a useful service to her clients.’
    • ‘If he has picked up one, it would have been the most useful thing he has done all year.’
    • ‘There may be features not covered here that you would find useful in your own work, so try to explore it.’
    • ‘I spoke to her after the forum to get her sense of how useful she thought the day had been.’
    • ‘The answer may lie in some useful precedents going even as far back as the genesis of modern Israel.’
    • ‘As a book it has useful anecdotes, but is otherwise nothing to get excited about.’
    • ‘Here teenage boys and girls who dropped out after primary school learn useful skills.’
    • ‘How useful is it to tell overweight people or gamblers that they have a disease?’
    • ‘He said it was a useful and constructive meeting following on from the previous meeting.’
    • ‘The new powers given to magistrates to deduct fines from wages and benefits are a useful tool.’
    • ‘Many people use too much salt in their cooking, and it is useful for them to know why this is bad for your heart.’
    • ‘So many useful shops disappear, to be replaced by a retail outlet that is not welcomed by many of us.’
    functional, practical, handy, neat, convenient, utilitarian, utility, helpful, applicable, serviceable, of use, of service
    beneficial, advantageous, helpful, worthwhile, profitable, gainful, rewarding, productive, constructive, effective, efficacious, valuable, fruitful, of help, of assistance
    View synonyms
    1. 1.1British informal Very able or competent in a particular area.
      • ‘a useful pace bowler’
      • ‘He is a healthy sceptic to much paranormal activity, and would be a useful expert to have.’
      competent, capable, able, expert, skilful, skilled, proficient, practised, experienced, effective, handy
      View synonyms

Phrases

    make oneself useful

    • Do something that is of some value or benefit to someone.

      ‘make yourself useful—get Jenny a drink’
      • ‘For it is by making themselves useful to the powerful that they gain access to the ‘best’ sources.’
      • ‘I seize this opportunity to help Mark by making myself useful.’
      • ‘Nice to see the man making himself useful again.’
      • ‘At least if they're present, you can continually chase them up in the hope that they might eventually make themselves useful and do the job they're paid for.’
      • ‘Those who would rather not attempt the event itself can still make themselves useful as helpers.’
      • ‘After a brief discussion we decided to head up towards the fence to assess the situation and see how we might make ourselves useful.’
      • ‘I'd go into law and make myself useful if I weren't so lazy.’
      • ‘And this year, I've decided, I'm going to make myself useful.’
      • ‘I asked myself what I could do to make myself useful, indispensable even.’
      • ‘I decided to make myself useful and tried my hand at making a lemon drink.’