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worthless

worthless

298 3.0
Has no value or use
  • adjective
  • /ˈwɜrθləs/
translation icon : sin valor
  • Everything you do is either worthless or sadly amusing.
  • feel worthless
  • virtually worthless
  • render worthless

Yeah, your skills are worthless, but your context is valuable.

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Examples

  • So plans are worthless, but planning is everything.

  • Work life balance is worthless when you're balancing the wrong things.

  • When you came in, we were just talking about this worthless money that we must have.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • I mean papers are worthless unless you can verify.

  • If your iPhone became worthless, you would never want it back, right?

  • The land is almost completely worthless to us now that the Fire Sea has retreated.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • I have taken what others discard as worthless and made that into something valuable.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • I may deem some services to be professionally worthless while a writer finds personal value in them.

    Academic text (2008)
  • In most cases, this lease interest would be virtually worthless relative to the cost of cleanup.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The old television was considered worthless after it broke.

Synonyms

useless
vsworthless
550 1.0

Not able to do the job it is made for

is the general neutral term for lack of value or usefulness
meaningless
vsworthless
226 5.1

Having no meaning, value, or purpose

is centered on absence of value or usefulness rather than meaning only
pointless
vsworthless
157 3.5

Not doing anything useful

is wider, also covering lack of importance or overall value
no use
vsworthless
133 2.5

An action that will not help

is the general lack of value idea rather than result focus
no-good
vsworthless
  • Informal
88 5.6

Bad or worthless and often causing trouble

is the broader neutral descriptor for lack of importance or use
futile
vsworthless
84 6.0

Not likely to work or help

is broader, covering lack of value or importance as well as use
unimportant
vsworthless
54 1.9

Not worth attention or notice

covers that lack of importance plus absence of usefulness or value
valueless
vsworthless
5 3.6

Not worth anything or useful

is broader, covering both lack of importance and lack of use
good-for-nothing
vsworthless
  • Offensive
2 6.8

Not useful or worth much

is the general description of lacking importance or usefulness
no-count
vsworthless
  • Offensive
1 8.9

A person or thing that others see as worthless

is the neutral idea of lacking use or importance across contexts
not worth a dime
vsworthless
  • Informal
1 6.2

Of no value or use

is the general term for having no value, not the idiom's emphasis
no-account
vsworthless
  • Offensive
1 9.4

Having little value or importance

focuses equally on lack of value, importance, and usefulness
substanceless
vsworthless
1 7.5

Not having real importance or value

focuses more generally on having no real value or usefulness
as useless as tits on a boar hog
vsworthless
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Something that has no real purpose or value

is the neutral statement of no value without the colorful tone
good-for-naught
vsworthless
  • Offensive
9.9

Not useful and having little value

is the neutral label for lacking value, not the blunt tone
not worth salt
vsworthless
  • Informal
9.9

Having little or no value

is the simple, direct statement of lacking value or usefulness
inconsequent
vsworthless
9.1

Not important or serious compared with other things

is stronger, meaning no real value or usefulness
matterless
vsworthless
7.9

Not important or worth worrying about

is the broader concept including both lack of use and worth
as useful as a bag of dicks
vsworthless
  • Offensive
9.9

Completely without help for any task

is the plain, nonvulgar description of lacking value or usefulness

Antonyms

530 2.8

Deserving respect because of good or honest qualities

526 2.5

Very useful and important, for example advice or skills

158 2.3

Worth a lot of money, like a painting or necklace

How Valuable

priceless
113 4.2
valuable
526 2.5
worthwhile
184 3.5
paltry
22 7.1
worthless
298 3.0

Surface Forms

worthless positive

Morphology

worthless = worth (transparent) = worth + less

The adjective is formed by the productive suffix '-less' added to 'worth', yielding 'without value', a meaning directly inferable by learners.

Etymology

The word worthless combines worth ('value') with the ending -less ('without'), the same -less you see in careless. So it means 'without value', which is why we call something or someone that has no real use or importance 'worthless'.