Word family noun help helper helpfulness ≠ unhelpfulness helping helplessness adjective helpful ≠ unhelpful helpless verb help adverb helpfully ≠ unhelpfully helplessly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhelpfulhelp‧ful /ˈhelpfəl/ ●●● S2 W3 adjective 1 HELPproviding useful help in making a situation better or easier Thank you for your advice; it’s been very helpful.it is helpful (for somebody) to do something It is helpful to discuss your problems with your friends. It is helpful for family members to gain a basic understanding of the illness. It is helpful if we address a few key questions here.helpful in doing something We hope this leaflet has been helpful in answering your questions.helpful advice/hints/suggestions etc Our sales staff are there to give you helpful advice.► see thesaurus at useful2 HELPalways willing to help people She’s a helpful child. I’m only trying to be helpful. —helpfully adverb —helpfulness noun [uncountable]Examples from the Corpus
helpful• However, his other suggestions are more helpful.• Thanks, Sam. You've been very helpful.• Consideration given to follow-up visits by officers, if suitable or helpful.• Miss Menzies couldn't be very helpful about the Datsun, though she answered all his questions very readily.• The Student Cook Book provides basic helpful advice without sounding patronising.• Decongestants can be helpful, because they reduce the swelling of the lining of the nose, making air passage easier.• a helpful child• I explained to them that the information could be extremely helpful during the board meeting.• Several other recent studies have shown that moderate consumption of red wine, in particular, is helpful for preventing heart disease.• The local social work department is being most helpful in these matters.• The drug Prozac can be helpful in treating anxiety.• It is, of course, tremendously helpful to embellish school courses by providing related experiences at home.• I think it would be helpful to summarize what we agreed at the last meeting.• I found these cassettes very helpful when I was learning Spanish.• A helpful woman at the tourist office gave me some tips on places to visit.helpful advice/hints/suggestions etc• Do you have any helpful suggestions?• More often than not a reader unfamiliar with your work will give you some of the most helpful suggestions.• The lads, as always, were on the phone all week with helpful hints.• Who says I never give you helpful advice?• Do we ever see articles or helpful hints aimed at us?• They were extremely receptive to the helpful hints offered by advice magazines, which were proliferating at the time.• Beyond these guidelines, there are plenty of helpful hints to keep you on a low-fat track.• A small light bulb next to the assistant indicates that it has some helpful advice to offer. 