Meaning of useful in English:

adjective

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

  ‘aspirins are useful for headaches’

  More example sentences

  • ‘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.’

  Synonyms

  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

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  1. 1.1British informal Very able or competent in a particular area.
     ‘a useful pace bowler’
     More example sentences

     • ‘He is a healthy sceptic to much paranormal activity, and would be a useful expert to have.’
     Synonyms

     competent, capable, able, expert, skilful, skilled, proficient, practised, experienced, effective, handy

     View synonyms