Word family noun usage use disuse misuse reuse usefulness ≠ uselessness user adjective reusable used ≠ unused disused useful ≠ useless usable ≠ unusable verb use misuse reuse adverb usefully ≠ uselessly
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishuselessuse‧less /ˈjuːsləs/ ●●○ adjective 1 USELESSnot useful or effective in any way OPP useful The doctor concluded that further treatment would be useless. a website full of useless informationvirtually/completely/totally etc useless Water had got into the radio, and now it was completely useless.useless for The land is useless for growing crops.it is useless to do something It was useless to complain.worse than useless (=not useful and in fact causing harm or problems) The map was so out-of-date it was worse than useless.2 informalUSELESS unable or unwilling to do anything properly Don’t ask Tim to fix it. He’s completely useless. —uselessly adverb —uselessness noun [uncountable]COLLOCATIONSadverbscompletely/totally/absolutely uselessThe treatment is completely useless.wholly/entirely uselessFrom his point of view qualifications are wholly useless.virtually/almost/practically uselessThese flaws could make the software virtually useless in a business environment.quite useless British English (=completely useless)The vehicle proved quite useless on rocky ground. pretty/fairly uselessThe book is pretty useless for today's students.verbsrender something uselessShe has a debilitating condition which renders her legs virtually useless.make something uselessSalt water flooded into the land making it useless for farming.prove uselessPolice checkpoints proved useless at stopping the suicide bombers.phrasesworse than useless (=not useful, and causing harm or problems)It would be worse than useless to try and complain about him. Examples from the Corpus
useless• Of course we need to test children's ability, but some of these exams are worse than useless.• There's no point reading the instructions - they're completely useless.• And even as she prayed and wished, she knew, deep inside, that it was all useless.• Had I an opportunity I should have great pleasure in giving you a few hints on this subject which might not be useless.• If the nerve fails to pass on the correct signals, the limb becomes useless.• As a secretary, she was useless.• I tried calling the tax office but they were completely useless.• It's time you traded the car in, before it becomes utterly useless.• I had to remind myself that worrying is a useless activity.• Antibiotics are useless against viral infections such as influenza.• When their job is done they are judged useless, and killed or thrown out.• Numerous studies show that dieting is useless and may even cause weight gain.• The lifejackets turned out to be useless, because they didn't inflate properly.• I kept useless collections of stamps, seashells, postcards, rocks, delighting in their deadly neatness.• Jay's car was 20 years old, and useless for anything but a short journey to the local shops.• That's a nice watch, but it's useless for going underwater.• This book is useless! I can't find any of the information I need.• It was useless now to ask for help from my mother.• a useless piece of information• Despite that military expenditure, there are many situations where the military is useless, says Edward Djerejian.• Jenny decided to say nothing. It was useless to argue.• He knew it was useless to pretend to be innocent.• Presumably, my files will be completely useless to whoever stole them.• It's useless trying to talk to you when you've had a drink.• She gave me a video, but of course it's useless without a player.• It think it would be useless writing to the company -- they haven't even returned my calls.• I feel useless, you know what I mean?it is useless to do something• It was useless to discuss the finances any further. 