helpful
helpful
Pronunciation
The IPA phonetic spelling for "helpful" is /ˈhɛlpfəl/.
Here's a breakdown of the sounds by syllable:
First Syllable (help-):
/h/ - voiceless glottal fricative
/ɛ/ - open-mid front unrounded vowel
/l/ - alveolar lateral approximant
/p/ - voiceless bilabial plosive
Second Syllable (-ful):
/f/ - voiceless labiodental fricative
/əl/ - syllabic /l/ (often a reduced vowel sound followed by /l/)
Word Form Variations
Adjective: helpful
Adverb: helpfully
Noun (derived from adjective): helpfulness
Noun (related concept): help (can be singular or uncountable)
Verb (related concept): help (present tense), helping (present participle/gerund), helped (past tense/past participle)
Definitions, Synonyms and Antonyms
Adjective:
helpful
Providing assistance or support that contributes to a positive outcome or alleviates difficulty.
Synonyms: useful, beneficial, advantageous, supportive, cooperative, instrumental
Antonyms: unhelpful, useless, detrimental, hindering, obstructive
Having a disposition to offer aid; inclined to assist others.
Synonyms: accommodating, obliging, benevolent, considerate, caring
Antonyms: unhelpful, inconsiderate, uncooperative, selfish
Adverb:
helpfully
In a manner that provides assistance or is of use.
Synonyms: usefully, beneficially, advantageously, supportively
Antonyms: unhelpfully, uselessly, detrimentally
Noun:
helpfulness
The quality or state of being helpful; the characteristic of providing aid or benefit.
Synonyms: utility, benefit, advantage, usefulness, beneficence, cooperativeness
Antonyms: uselessness, unhelpfulness, detriment, hindrance
Examples of Use
Books: "The character of Samwise Gamgee is often seen as incredibly helpful to Frodo throughout their perilous journey to Mordor."
Newspapers: "Local volunteers were particularly helpful in distributing aid to families affected by the recent floods, working tirelessly to ensure everyone received necessary supplies." ( The Daily Herald, July 2024)
Online Publications: "Our new article on financial planning offers several helpful tips for first-time homebuyers, including advice on mortgages and down payments." (Investopedia, June 2025)
Entertainment Mediums (Film): In Paddington, the Brown family is consistently helpful to Paddington Bear as he navigates London life, teaching him about human customs.
Entertainment Mediums (Television): A common trope in sitcoms involves a well-meaning but sometimes overly helpful neighbor who frequently interferes with the main characters' lives.
Entertainment Mediums (Video Games): "Players often share strategies and 'helpful hints' on online forums for Elden Ring, aiding others in overcoming challenging bosses and discovering hidden secrets."
General Public Discourse (Conversation): "Could you be a little more helpful with the dishes, please? I'm trying to get dinner ready."
General Public Discourse (Online Review): "The customer service representative was so helpful when I called about my order. They resolved my issue quickly and efficiently."
10 Quotes Using Helpful
"Refusing to ask for help when you need it is refusing someone the chance to be helpful." – Ric Ocasek
"To be successful is to be helpful, caring and constructive, to make everything and everyone you touch a little bit better." – Norman Vincent Peale
"If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another." – Winston Churchill
"Friends are helpful not only because they will listen to us, but because they will laugh at us; Through them we learn a little objectivity, a little modesty, a little courtesy; We learn the rules of life and become better players of the game." – Will Durant
"It is not helpful to help a friend by putting coins in his pockets when he has got holes in his pockets." – Elizabeth Bowen
"No one can pass through life, any more than he can pass through a bit of country, without leaving tracks behind, and those tracks may often be helpful to those coming after him in finding their way." – Robert Baden-Powell
"Before you speak, ask yourself if what you are going to say is true, is kind, is necessary, is helpful." – Bernard Meltzer
"Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul." – Luther Burbank
"If we are faithful to God in little things, we shall gain experience and strength that will be helpful to us in the more serious trials of life." – Hudson Taylor
"Doubt in my tradition is something that is very helpful." – Thich Nhat Hanh
Etymology
The word "helpful" has a pretty straightforward history! It comes from the older English word "help" and the suffix "-ful."
"Help": This part of the word is very old, going all the way back to Old English. In Old English, the word was "helpan," which meant "to assist, aid, support, or relieve." It had similar meanings in related Germanic languages. So, at its core, "help" has always been about providing assistance.
"-ful": This suffix is also ancient, coming from Old English "-full" or "-ful." It means "full of," "characterized by," or "having the quality of." Think of words like "beautiful" (full of beauty) or "careful" (full of care).
So, when you put them together, "helpful" literally means "full of help" or "having the quality of providing help."
The first known use of "helpful" with its current meaning, "furnishing help, useful," dates back to the late 14th century. Before that, you might have seen phrases like "full of help" to convey the same idea, but "helpful" emerged as a single, convenient word to describe someone or something that offers assistance.
Phrases + Idioms Containing Helpful
A helpful hand: To offer assistance.
Highly helpful: Extremely useful or beneficial.
Most helpful: The utmost in utility or assistance.
To be helpful in a pinch: To provide assistance when it's critically needed.
Helpful hint: A useful piece of advice or information.
Helpful resource: Something that provides valuable information or aid.
Helpful contribution: An act or item that significantly aids a cause or effort.
Helpful attitude: A disposition that is inclined to assist.
A helping hand: (Using the related verb "help") Offering assistance.
A useful tool in the kit: (Using a synonym for similar effect) Something that proves effective for a purpose.
Vocabulary-Based Stories from SEA
Source Information
Definition of helpful from The Academic Glossary at Self Exploration Academy, a Urikville Press Publication. © All rights reserved.
