Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Useful |
UsefulAdjective1. Being of use or service; "the girl felt motherly and useful"; "a useful job"; "a useful member of society". 2. Of great importance or use or service; "useful information"; "valuable advice". 3. Capable of being turned to use or account; "useful applications of calculus". 4. Having a useful function; "utilitarian steel tables". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "useful" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
This article is about "Utility" in economics and in game theory.
- For utility companies and similar concepts, see public utility.
- For utilities in computers, see Computer software
In economics, utility is a measure of the satisfaction gained from the consumption of a "package" of goods and services.
The concept of utility is a measure of happiness or satisfaction. It is applied by economists in such topics as the indifference curve, which measures the combination of a basket of commodities that an individual or a community requests at a given level(s) of satisfaction. The concept is also used in Utility Functions, Pareto Maximization, Edgeworth Box and Contract Curve.
The doctrine of utilitarianism saw the maximisation of utility as a moral criterion for the organisation of society. According to utilitarians, such as Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) and John Stuart Mill (1806-1876), society should aim to maximise the total utility of individuals, aiming for 'the greatest happiness for the greatest number'.
Utility theory assumes that humankind is rational. That is, people maximize their utility wherever possible. For instance, one would request more of a good if it is available and if one has the ability to acquire that amount, if this is the rational thing to do in the circumstances.
Cardinal and ordinal utility
There are mainly two kinds of measurement of utility implemented by economists: cardinal utility and ordinal utility.
Utility was originally viewed as a measurable quantity, so that it would be possible to measure the utility of each individual in the society with respect to each good available in the society, and to add these together to yield the total utility of all people with respect to all goods in the society. Society could then aim to maximise the total utility of all people in society, or equivalently the average utility per person. This conception of utility as a measurable quantity that could be aggregated across individuals is called 'cardinal utility'.
Cardinal utility quantitatively measure the preference of an individual towards a certain commodity. Numbers assigned to different goods or services can be compared. A utility of 100 units towards a cup of vodka is twice as desirable as a cup of coffee with a utility level of 50 units.
The concept of cardinal utility suffers from the absence of an objective measure of utility when comparing the utility gained from consumption of a particular good by one individual as opposed to another individual.
For this reason, neoclassical economics abandoned utility as a foundation for the analysis of economic behaviour, in favour of an analysis based upon preferences. This led to the development of tools such as indifference curves to explain economic behaviour.
In this analysis, an individual is observed to prefer one choice to another. Preferences can be ordered from most satisfing to least satisfing. Only the ordering is important: the magnitude of the numerical values are not important except in as much as they establish the order. A utility of 100 towards an ice-cream is not twice as desirable as a utility of 50 towards candy. All that can be said is that ice-cream is preferred to candy. There is no attempt to explain why one choice is preferred to another; hence no need for a quantitative concept of utility.
It is nonetheless possible, given a set of preferences which satisfy certain criteria of reasonableness, to find a utility function that will explain these preferences. Such a utility function takes on higher values for choices that the individual prefers. Utility functions are a useful and widely used tool in modern economics.
A utility function to describe an individual's set of preferences clearly is not unique. If the value of the utility function were to be, eg, doubled, squared, or subjected to any other strictly monotonically increasing function, it would still describe the same preferences. With this approach to utility, known as ordinal utility it is not possible to compare utility between individuals, or find the total utility for society as the Utilitarians hoped to do.
Utility in game theory
In game theory utility is represented as a function representing the anticipated payoff of each player corresponding to their selected strategy. The domain of any utility function is defined below.
A player has an anticipation in ζ for any given move and their utility function has a natural operation defined as:
- Consider a system ζ of entities u, υ, ω
where 0 ≤ α ≤ 1 and the probability of u is α(u)
- αu + (1 - α)υ
and the probability of υ is (1 - α)(υ).The correspondence of utility and preference is denoted by:
u being the utility and V(u) the value attached to it.
- u → α = V(u)
The following axioms are required:
- 1) u > υ implies V(u) > V(υ) and is a complete ordering of ζ
- 2) u and υ can exist only in three mutually exclusive orderings
- u > υ; u < υ; u = υ;
- and all ζ are fully transitive of order
- 3) u > υ implies that u > αu + (1 - α)υ
- 4) u > υ > ω implies that their exists an α such that
- αu + (1 - α)υ > ω
- therefore α(ζ) is continuous
- 5) entities in ζ can be combined algebraically such that
- αu + (1 - α)υ = (1 - α)υ + αu
- and
- α(βu + (1 - β)υ) + (1 - α)υ = γu + (1 - γ)υ
- where γ = α(β)
See also
- microeconomics
- expectation utilities
- list of economics topics
- game theory
References and additional reading
- Neumann, John von and Morgenstern, Oskar Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press. 1944 sec.ed. 1947
- Nash Jr., John F. The Bargaining Problem. Econometrica 18:155 1950
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Utility."
Synonyms: UsefulSynonyms: of value (adj), utile (adj), utilitarian (adj), valuable (adj). (additional references) |
| Antonym: useless (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Good | Adjective: commendable; useful; good; beneficial. |
Instrumentality | Adjective: instrumental; useful; ministerial, subservient, mediatorial; intermediate, intervening; conducive. |
Salubrity | Sanative; (remedial); restorative; (reinstate); useful. |
Tendency | Adjective: tending; Verb: conducive, working towards, in a fair way to, calculated to; liable; subservient; (instrumental); useful; subsidiary; (helping). |
Use | Useful; subservient; (instrumental). |
Render useful; mold; turn to account, turn to use; convert to use, utilize; work up; call into play, bring into play; put into requisition; call forth, draw forth; press into service, enlist into the service; bring to bear upon, devote, dedicate, consecrate, apply, adhibit, dispose of; make a handle of, make a cat's-paw of. | |
Utility | Verb: be useful; Adjective: avail, serve; subserve; (be instrumental to); conduce; (tend); answer, serve one's turn, answer a purpose, serve a purpose. |
Find one's account in, find one's advantage in; reap the benefit of; (be better for). render useful; (use). | |
Adjective: useful; of use; Noun: serviceable, proficuous, good for; subservient; (instrumental).; conducive; (tending); subsidiary; (helping). | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Useful |
| Specialty definitions using "useful": useful life. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "useful": Polychrest. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Thank you Poe, you've proven to be a most useful mammal (Con Air; writing credit: Scott Rosenberg) If you're in such a hurry, you could lower a rope or a tree branch or find something useful to do. (The Princess Bride; writing credit: William Goldman) Joblessness is no longer just for Philosophy majors - useful people are starting to feel the pinch (The Simpsons; writing credit: Artur Brauner; Paul Hengge) Well, at least he'll find it useful if he ever needs a shave (Man of La Mancha; writing credit: Dale Wasserman) I mean, it serves no useful purpose for there to be a bunch of chompy, crushy things in the middle of a hallway (Galaxy Quest; writing credit: David Howard) | |
Clever | May your life be long and useful like a roll of toilet paper. (references; author: unknown) Parental Observation: An unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Useful Sheep (1912) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Indian Ink capsule stain is useful for improving visualization of encapsulated Bacillus anthracis in clinical samples such as blood, blood culture bottles, or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Credit: CDC. |  | The Rais (leader) of Favignana Trap, Gioacchino Cataldo, built this scale model of the netting system which was useful for the fishermen to visualize the final configuration of the trap subsequent to setting it out. Credit: Fisheries. |
 | Manipulator arms with tactile feedback are especially useful for science. Credit: National Undersea Research Program (NURP). |  | Divers test rebreathers which are useful for extending bottom time. Credit: National Undersea Research Program (NURP). |
 | Figure 49. An Ekman bottom sampler for use in zoological sampling operations. This instrument was capable of acquiring a sample from a surface area covering 500 sq cm. This device was designed by Dr. Sven Ekman of Jonkoping, Sweden in 1910. This sampler was spring-loaded and snapped shut to acquire mud and silt. Although tested in a lake, it was equally useful in the sea. Credit: Sailing for Science - the NOAA Fleet Then and Now. |  | Water drops are very useful for spot fires. Credit: USDA. |
 | Laboratory tests may be useful to patients with hypertension. / WHO p. Credit: National Library of Medicine; photo by D. Henrioud.. |  | Cancer: determination ... radioiodine is a useful diagnostic technique. / WHO photo. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |
 | Useful information in cold weather. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Keep your vacation souvenirs -- they're useful. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Notepad" by Alexandre S. S. Commentary: "That´s my notepad . it´s a nice and useful texture. <br>make some fixes and go on! --> Please forward a copy of any final work which uses this image. <br>." | "Keyboard and Disks" by Eitan Marder-Eppstein Commentary: "Picture of my Keyboard with some disks next to it. Might be useful." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Aristotle | The greatest virtues are those which are most useful to other persons. |
Francis Bacon | Choose the life that is most useful, and habit will make it the most agreeable. |
George Herbert | Be useful where thou livest. |
Henri Frederic Amiel | A belief is not true because it is useful. |
Horace | He gains everyone's approval who mixes the pleasant with the useful. |
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe | What is my life if I am no longer useful to others. |
Karl Marx | The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people. |
Massillon | Agreeable advice is seldom useful advice. |
Oscar Wilde | The State is to make what is useful. The individual is to make what is beautiful. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | And thus came in the use of money, some lasting thing that men might keep without spoiling, and that by mutual consent men would take in exchange for the truly useful, but perishable supports of life. (Second Treatise of Government) |
US Constitution | 1791 | Clause 1: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States; Clause 2: To borrow Money on the credit of the United States; Clause 3: To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes; Clause 4: To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization, and uniform Laws on the subject of Bankruptcies throughout the United States; Clause 5: To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, and of foreign Coin, and fix the Standard of Weights and Measures; Clause 6: To provide for the Punishment of counterfeiting the Securities and current Coin of the United States; Clause 7: To establish Post Offices and post Roads; Clause 8: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries; Clause 9: To constitute Tribunals inferior to the supreme Court; Clause 10: To define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations; Clause 11: To declare War, grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and make Rules concerning Captures on Land and Water; Clause 12: To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years; Clause 13: To provide and maintain a Navy; Clause 14: To make Rules for the Government and Regulation of the land and naval Forces; Clause 15: To provide for calling forth the Militia to execute the Laws of the Union, suppress Insurrections and repel Invasions; Clause 16: To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining, the Militia, and for governing such Part of them as may be employed in the Service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively, the Appointment of the Officers, and the Authority of training the Militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress; Clause 17: To exercise exclusive Legislation in all Cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten Miles square) as may, byCession of particular States, and the Acceptance of Congress, become the Seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;--And Clause 18: To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Convention of March 19, l902, regarding the protection of birds useful to agriculture. (reference) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | As a walking companion, Emma had very early foreseen how useful she might find her. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | It was surmised that he must have lived formerly in the country, for he had all sorts of useful secrets which he taught the peasants |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | We have the liberal arts and we have the useful arts |
The Importance of Being Earnest | Oscar Wilde | Jack: What on earth do you mean? Algernon: You have invented a very useful younger brother ca |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | That the loss of your eyes would be no impediment to your bodily strength, by which you might still be useful to his Majesty |
Walden | Thoreau, Henry David | The cart before the horse is neither beautiful nor useful. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Another useful test is cystoscopy. (references) | |
CAT scans are also useful in locating pseudocysts. (references) | ||
As antagonists, they are especially useful as antidotes. (references) | ||
Business | Leasing could be a useful option. (references) | |
Water purification tablets might also prove useful in other situations. (references) | ||
In general the market is open to the latest useful or prestigious accessory. (references) | ||
Children | Brazil | Child abuse is a significant problem, although the 2001 UNICEF report notes that useful nationwide statistics on child abuse are nonexistent. (references) |
Sierra Leone | Although a few private agencies and organizations attempted to train persons with disabilities in useful work, there was no government policy or program directed particularly at persons with disabilities. (references) | |
Economic History | Kenya | Catalogs and product brochures are useful tools for selling in Kenya. (references) |
Human Rights | Algeria | Credible sources state that the offices have provided little useful information to the families of those who disappeared. (references) |
Uganda | Although once considered a useful innovation, the LC courts often are thought to be sources of injustice due to such factors as bribery and male dominance in rural areas. (references) | |
Russia | NGO representatives generally expressed satisfaction that the Forum was useful in highlighting the importance of civil society, and that officials and progovernmental participants had respected prior agreements not to use the Forum to attempt to "manage" civil society from above and thus to compromise the independence of NGO's. (references) | |
Political Economy | Mozambique | The Assembly is a multiparty parliament that provides useful debate on national policy issues and generates some proposals independently. (references) |
Trade | Guatemala | Independent audits are useful indicators of value or risk implicit in bank's portfolios. (references) |
Kenya | Kenya has various types of export financing and insurance schemes that are attractive and quite useful to Kenyan exporters. (references) | |
Travel | France | Collar, tie and a dark business suit for men are very useful, especially in Paris. (references) |
Maldives | Supplemental coverage that specifically covers overseas treatment has proven useful. (references) | |
Kuwait | Volunteer useful information such as allergies, medication currently taken, and medical history. (references) | |
Women | Iceland | In 2000 Parliament passed legislation that gives the courts the power to issue restraining orders, which has been a useful legal tool in protecting women from abusive husbands and boyfriends. (references) |
Albania | Various groups such as the Women's Center, the Family Planning Association, Useful to Albanian Women, the Independent Women's Forum, Women in Development, the Millennium Coalition, the Women's Advocacy Center, the Association of Women's Lawyers, Refleksione, and the three main human rights groups work to promote women's rights. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | DICTIONARY, n. A malevolent literary device for cramping the growth of a language and making it hard and inelastic. This dictionary, however, is a most useful work. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Colin Powell | It's not useful to try to draw out from us what is the president going to do, when the president has all of his options. He can decide. |
Dennis Miller | The telephone, once one of the most useful inventions for man, has now become a communication curse for mankind. |
Jay McGraw | You know I do, I think that law school is kind of the responsible choice. You know once you're a lawyer, you're always a lawyer, and so I thought now would be a good time, and it is useful stuff. I mean the things I've learned there I use even this week. |
Martha Stewart | We publish about three or four books a year, not just my own, but Martha Stewart's Living Books. They are really useful books. As the magazine is useful, the books are just as useful. |
Rush Limbaugh | Many of the communist movement's useful idiots still exist in the press. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George Washington | 1789-1797 | There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to keep live the spirit of liberty. |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | War will then be but a suspension of useful works, and a return to a state of peace, a return to the progress of improvement. |
James Madison | 1809-1817 | To a thriving agriculture and the improvements related to it is added a highly interesting extension of useful manufactures, the combined product of professional occupations and of household industry. |
James Monroe | 1817-1825 | Much useful information has, however, been obtained as to the state of the island and great relief afforded to those who had been necessarily left there. |
John Quincy Adams | 1825-1829 | Such, then is the present condition of the trade that, useful as it is to both parties it can, with a single momentary exception, be carried on directly by the vessels of neither. |
Andrew Jackson | 1829-1837 | Little useful knowledge is gained by the musters and drills as now established, and the whole subject evidently requires a thorough examination. |
Calvin Coolidge | 1923-1929 | Even the failures can not but be accounted useful and an immeasurable advance over threatened or actual warfare. |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | We are aided by all who desire freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom to live their own lives for useful ends. |
Bill Clinton | 1993-2001 | But, frankly, the ratings are too numerous, diverse and confusing to be really useful to parents. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Useful" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Useful" is used about 10,060 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 100% | 10,060 | 926 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "useful". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Onesimus | N/A | Biblical | Useful |
| Onesime | N/A | French | Useful |
| Anisim | N/A | Russian | Useful |
| Onisim | N/A | Russian | Useful |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
Expressions using "useful": be useful ♦ be useful to smb. ♦ come in useful ♦ estimated useful life ♦ it may prove useful at a pinch ♦ it's useful to know that ♦ lowest useful high frequency ♦ make oneself useful ♦ render useful ♦ that's useful to know! ♦ the useful arts ♦ The useful mechanical or industrial arts ♦ useful area ♦ useful band ♦ useful beam ♦ useful efficiency(expressed in %) ♦ useful heat ♦ useful heating effect ♦ useful inflow ♦ useful life ♦ useful lifespan ♦ useful load ♦ useful radiation ♦ useful signal ♦ useful space. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "useful": useful-but-dull. | |
Ending with "useful": military-useful, mock-useful, more-than-useful, once-useful, potentially-useful. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "useful"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | me vlerë (valuable), i dobishëm (beneficent, beneficial, effective, good, handy, helpful, instrumental, pay, profitable, salutary, serviceable, subservient, wholesome). (various references) | |
Arabic | مفيد (advantageous, available, beneficial, gainful, helpful, of use, profitable, purposive, salutary, serviceable, stead, wholesome), مساعد (accessory, accomplice, advantageous, aid, ancillary, assistance, auxiliary, backing, beneficial, conducive, contributory, favorable, favourable, help, helpful, helpmate, propitious, serviceable, subsidiary, supplementary, support), نافع (beneficial, serviceable, subservient, valuable), صالح (adequate, godly, good, make one's peace with, make up, pact, righteous, valid, veracious, welfare, well being). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | успешен (auspicious, lucky), резултатен (efficacious, efficient, operative, pregnant), ценен (costly, precious, sterling, valuable), от полза (avail, profitable), оправен, ползотворен (beneficial, salutary), полезен (advantageous, beneficial, good, handy, helpful, profitable, salutary, serviceable, wholesome), добър (benign, fair, good, good natured, kind, kindly, lucky, nice, plummy, pretty, round, savoury, sound, tenderhearted, warmhearted, well). (various references) | |
Chinese | 有用 . (various references) | |
Czech | užitečný, užiteèný (beneficial, good, handy, helpful, profitable, salutary, subservient, valuable, worthwhile), výhodný (advantageous, expedient, favorable, favourable, paying, profitable), talentovaný (gifted, talented), platný (passable, valid), dobrý (all right, fair, glad, good, sensible, soft, strong), úèelný (advisable, expedient, functional, pragmatic, sensible). (various references) | |
Danish | nyttig (advantageous). (various references) | |
Dutch | nuttig (advantageous), dienstig (advantageous). (various references) | |
Esperanto | utila (advantageous). (various references) | |
Faeroese | nýttigur (advantageous). (various references) | |
Farsi | مفید (Beneficial, Effect, Good, Instrumental, Profitable, Remedial), سودمند (Available, Beneficial, Commodious, Good, Handy, Instrumental, Lucrative, Salubrious, Salutary, Serviceable), بافایده . (various references) | |
Finnish | hyödyllinen (advantageous, of benefit, of use, profitable). (various references) | |
French | utile (of use). (various references) | |
Frisian | nuttich (advantageous). (various references) | |
German | nützlich (advantageous, advantagious, beneficial, expedient, helpful, practical, profitable, profitably, salutary, serviceably, valuable), brauchbar (convenient, decent, practicable, practical, reasonable, serviceable, usable, usably, viable, workable), zweckdienlich (advantageous, appropriate, convenient, effective, effectual, efficacious, expedient, pertinent), sinnvoll (meaningful, rational, sensible, suggestive). (various references) | |
Greek | ωφέλιμοσ (expedient, salutary), χρήσιμοσ (helpful, practical, serviceable, usable), χρήσιμος, επωφελήσ (advantageous, profitable). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מועיל (advantageous, beneficial, helpful, instrumental, salutary), מאלף (coach, handler, instructive, tamer, trainer), תועלתי (advantageous, beneficial, expedient, practicable), שמושי (functional, handy, practical, serviceable). (various references) | |
Hungarian | hasznos (advantageous, be of service, beneficial, conducive, effective, expedient, helpful, instrumental, profitable, remunerative, salutary, serviceable, subservient, to stand in good stead). (various references) | |
Indonesian | gunawan (noble, virtuous), bermanfaat (rewarding), berguna (conducive, constructive, worthy), berfaedah (advantageous, beneficial), berdaya. (various references) | |
Italian | utile (advantageous, advantagious, convenient, expedient, gains, helpful, instrumental, interest, of use, profit, serviceable, subservient, suitable, usefull, worthwhile). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 有用 (helpful), 便利 (convenient, handy), 便利 (convenient, handy). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | べんり (convenient, handy, management), ゆうよう (calm, helpful, self-possessed). (various references) | |
Korean | 유용한. (various references) | |
Manx | ymmydoil (handy, valuable), ymmydagh, lauee (dexterous, handy, versatile). (various references) | |
Papiamen | útil (advantageous). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | efulusay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | útil (advantageous, available, conducive, convenient, good, helpful, profit, profitable, purposive, serviceable, subservient), vantajoso (advantageous, beneficial, expedite, gainful, profit, profitable, purposive, serviceable). (various references) | |
Portuguese Brazilian | útil. (various references) | |
Romanian | util (available, helpful, profitable, serviceable, sound, subservient, usefully), valoros (distinguished, important, precious, talented, valuable, weighty), trebuincios, spornic (abundant, active, advantageous, diligent, economical), practic (actually, applied, business-like, canny, commodious, experienced, hard-headed, matter of fact, practical, practically, pragmatic, purposeful, serviceable, sound, virtually, worldly), onorabil (creditable, creditably, earnest, gentlemanlike, honest, honestly, honorable, honorably, honourable, honourably, reputable, respectable, upright, venerable, worthy), folositor (advantageous, beneficial, effective, expedient, gainful, helpful, instrumental, of use, profitable, purposeful, salutary, serviceable, sound, subservient, suitable, wholesome), competent (able, ably, apt, capable, competent, conversant, efficient, fit, proficient, responsible, salted, scholarly), capabil (able, capable, competent, efficient, fit, gifted, smart), bun (affectionate, applicable, belongings, beneficial, benevolent, bonny, bright, canny, capital, clever, decent, domain, eminent, fair, favorable, favourable, fine, fit, fitting, fond, fortunate, fortune, genuine, good, goods, grand, grandfather, grandparent, happy, honest, humane, kind, kindly, nice, okay, pleasurable, proper, real, right, salutary, skilful, skillful, soft-hearted, splendid, suitable, true, upright, virtuous, well, wholesome). (various references) | |
Russian | полезный (adjuvant, advantageous, available, beneficial, effective, healthy, helpful, instructive, practicable, practical, profitable, salutary, serviceable, wholesome). (various references) | |
Scottish | seirbhiseach (advantageous), maith (fhèarr and feobha, fit, good, pardon, virtuous), feumail (necessary, needful). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | svrsishodan (appropriate), koristan (adjuvant, conducive, helpful, profitable, valuable, worthy). (various references) | |
Spanish | útil (adjuvant, good, helpful, meaningful, profitable, purposeful, purposive, rewarding, serviceable). (various references) | |
Swedish | nyttig (advantageous, bestead, good, helpful, prifitable, profitable, salutary, wholesome), brukbar (serviceable), användbar (available, fit for use, serviceable, usable, versatile, wearable). (various references) | |
Turkish | yararlı (advantageous, beneficial, benign, benignant, efficacious, good, handy, healthful, healthy, helpful, of use, profitable, salubrious, salutary, sanative, sanatory, subservient, wholesome), kullanışlı (all purpose, available, convenient, flowing, functional, general purpose, handy, manageable, operable, practicable, practical, purposive, serviceable), işe yarar (available, serviceable, utility), faydalı (advantageous, beneficial, benignant, favorable, favourable, helpful, of use, profitable, rewarding, salutary, serviceable, utilitarian, utility, valuable). (various references) | |
Turkmen | peяdaly. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | успішний (big time, effective, prosperous, successful), корисний (adjuvant, advantageous, available, beneficial, conducive, effective, gainful, helpful, of avail, practicable, profitable, rewarding, serviceable, valuable, wholesome). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | có ích (conducive, favorable, favourable, furthersome, serviceable, subservient). (various references) | |
Welsh | defnyddiol, buddiol (advisable, beneficial, profitable). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | bona, bonae, bonam, bonas, bone, boni, bonis, bono, bonorum, bonos, bonum, bonus, commodus, melior, meliora, meliorem, meliores, melioresque, meliori, melioribus, melioris, melius, optima, optimae, optimam, optimas, optime, optimi, optimis, optimo, optimos, optimum, optimus, salboni, salutare, salutari, salutaria, salutaribus, salutaris, salutarium, utensilia, utensilibus, utile, utilem, utiles, utilia, utilior, utiliora, utilis, utilium. (various references) |
| Medieval Latin | 700-1500 | commodiosus. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "useful": usefully, usefulness, usefulnesses. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "useful": houseful, museful. (additional references) | |
Words containing "useful": housefuls. (additional references) | |
| |
"Useful" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Busefi, busful, Judetul, purseful, pursefuls, pushful, usefull, usseful, usuful. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "useful" (pronounced yuw"sful) |
| 4 | -s f u l | blissful, disgraceful, forceful, graceful, houseful, stressful, successful, suspenseful, peaceful, purposeful, remorseful, resourceful, unsuccessful. |
| 3 | -f u l | apocryphal, artful, awful, baffle, baleful, bashful, beautiful, boastful, bountiful, careful, cheerful, colorful, deceitful, delightful, disdainful, disrespectful, distasteful, distrustful, doleful, doubtful, dreadful, duffel, dutiful, eventful, faithful, falafel, fanciful, fateful, fearful, fistful, fitful, flavorful, forgetful, fretful, frightful, fruitful, gainful, gleeful, grateful, harmful, hateful, healthful, helpful, hopeful, hurtful, sorrowful, soulful, spiteful, stifle, tactful, tasteful, tearful, thankful, insightful, joyful, kerfuffle, lawful, lustful, masterful, meaningful, merciful, mindful, mistrustful, mournful, muffle, needful, neglectful, painful, panful, pitiful, playful, plentiful, powerful, prayerful, raffle, regretful, resentful, reshuffle, respectful, restful, riffle, rifle, rightful, rueful, ruffle, scornful, scuffle, shameful, shuffle, sinful, skillful, thoughtful, trifle, triumphal, truffle, truthful, tuneful, uneventful, unfaithful, ungrateful, unhealthful, unhelpful, unlawful, untruthful, vengeful, waffle, wasteful, watchful, willful, wishful, wistful, woeful, wonderful, worshipful, wrongful, youthful, zestful. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-f-l-s-u-u" | |
-1 letter: flues, fuels, fusel. | |
-2 letters: feus, flue, flus, fuel, fuse, lues, self, slue, sulu, ulus. | |
-3 letters: efs, elf, els, feu, flu, leu, sel, sue, ulu, use. | |
-4 letters: ef, el, es, us. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-f-l-s-u-u" | |
+1 letter: museful. | |
+2 letters: desulfur, flexuous, frustule, houseful, sulfured, sulfuret, usefully. | |
+3 letters: desulfurs, fauteuils, frenulums, frustules, furuncles, housefuls, resultful, sulfurets, sulfurize, unmuffles, unrestful. | |
+4 letters: bucketfuls, bucketsful, desulfured, effluviums, fluctuates, fulgurates, fulgurites, futureless, luciferous, outfumbles, purposeful, ruefulness, successful, sulfureted, sulfurized, sulfurizes, superfluid, teacupfuls, teacupsful, usefulness. | |
+5 letters: desulfuring, desulfurize, dutifulness, hurtfulness, lustfulness, mellifluous, pushfulness, resourceful, ruthfulness, soulfulness, sulfureting, sulfuretted, superfluids, superfluity, superfluous, suspenseful, tumblerfuls, tunefulness. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Familiar | 9. Quotations: Historic 10. Quotations: Fiction 11. Quotations: Non-fiction 12. Quotations: Spoken | 13. Quotations: Speeches 14. Usage Frequency 15. Names: Derived from 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Derivations | 21. Rhymes 22. Anagrams 23. Bibliography |
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