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Meaningless vs Useless - What's the difference?

meaningless | useless | Related terms |

Useless is a synonym of meaningless.



As adjectives the difference between meaningless and useless

is that meaningless is lacking meaning while useless is without use or possibility to be used.

meaningless

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Lacking meaning.
  • Insignificant; not worthy of importance.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless .}}

    Derived terms

    * meaninglessness

    Synonyms

    * (not worthy of importance) negligible, trivial

    Antonyms

    * (lacking meaning) meaningful * (not worthy of importance) significant

    useless

    English

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Without use or possibility to be used.
  • This fork has prongs that are bent. It's useless now.
  • Unhelpful, not useful; pointless (of an action).
  • I think it's useless to keep this discussion going. It's like talking to a wall.
    I tried my best to make him quit smoking, but my efforts were useless . He now smokes six packs a day.
  • (pejorative, of a person) good-for-nothing; not dependable.
  • Bill never mows the lawn, takes out the trash or anything. He's useless , but I love him anyways.
  • (colloquial, of a person) unable to do well at a particular task or thing. Useless is mildly insulting.
  • My brother is useless at most computer games, but he is an awesome PS2 player.
    Why do you keep trying? You're obviously useless at it.

    Synonyms

    * (good-for-nothing) good-for-nothing * (unable to do well) unskillful

    Antonyms

    * skillful, useful

    Derived terms

    * uselessly * uselessness