Dictionary

unhelpful en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ʌnˈhɛlpfəl/

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English helpful English unhelpful From un- + helpful.

Meanings

1. Not providing help or assistance; not helpful.
   • Even if you are genuinely a victim, having a victim mentality is unhelpful because it is disempowering. ― Ned Kelly, "NFL Players Are Setting A Bad Example By Teaching Black People To Encourage Victimhood", 8th of October 2017
   • "Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the stars, that you cried not to him?" 1904, William Henry Hudson, Green Mansions, chapter XX:
   • The luckier and less disabled ones manned lifts or were posted at the doors of public buildings, a uniformed and bemedalled conciergerie who were more often than not unhelpful, making the most of whatever petty authority they were invested with. 2011, Alan Bennett, “Baffled at a Bookcase”, in London Review of Books, XXXIII.15:

Forms

Deriveds

unhelpfulness

Translations (7)

pl nieprzydatny (not helpful) · fi auttamaton (not helpful) · fr inserviable (not helpful) · da uhjælpsom (not helpful) · cmn 無益 /无益 (not helpful) · de unhilfreich (not helpful) · nb uhjelpsom (not helpful)