helpful

[help-fuhl] / ˈhɛlp fəl /

ADJECTIVE

beneficial, beneficent

Synonyms

STRONGEST

accessible advantageous applicable conducive constructive convenient cooperative crucial essential favorable friendly important invaluable practical productive profitable significant suitable supportive sympathetic timely useful valuable

WEAK

accommodating benevolent bettering caring considerate contributive effectual efficacious fortunate good for improving instrumental kind neighborly operative pragmatic serendipitous serviceable symbiotic usable utilitarian

Antonyms

STRONGEST

cold cool disagreeable hindering hurting inappropriate inessential injurious inopportune insignificant minor nonessential trivial unfavorable unfriendly unhelpful unimportant unsociable unsuitable useless worthless

WEAK

disadvantageous harmful hurtful unconstructive

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Ultimately, any form of stigma related to someone's body or their health choices is not helpful," Standen said.

From Science Daily • May 5, 2026

After a month of emails, I managed to uncover two helpful souls.

From Slate • May 3, 2026

It is helpful to remember what Mr. Wyman is writing against: any version of social-evolutionary history in which the primary role of people in the past was to bring our present world into being.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

While helpful, those numbers are not the last word, the spokesperson noted.

From MarketWatch • May 1, 2026

But then some creatures came skulking around who were not helpful at all.

From "The Wild Robot Escapes" by Peter Brown

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