Usefulness Meaning
/ˈjuːsfəlnəs/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe quality or degree of being useful.
Sentence Examples
Usefulness must be combined with pleasantness.
The usefulness of a pot is in its emptiness.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of this tool was questioned after it broke on the first use.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager wondered about the ____ of the new software, as it seemed to be quite difficult to master today.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree English useful Proto-Germanic *-inōną Proto-Indo-European *-dyé- Proto-Germanic *-atjaną Proto-Indo-European *-tus Proto-Germanic *-þuz Proto-Germanic *-assuz Proto-Germanic *-inassuz Proto-West Germanic *-nassī Old English -nes Middle English -nesse English -ness English usefulness From useful + -ness.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Always kept in the background, and undervalued by Lady Anne, who disliked the spirit of active usefulness which characterized her youngest daughter, this was the first time that Isabella had been loved for herself;..."
— 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 85:
"Redding’s study asked four psychologists with expertise in anxiety and depressive disorders to rate each self-help book on five criteria: […] and the general usefulness of the book as a self-administered method for changing behavior or psychological change."
— 2019 May 2, Nina Avramova, “When you should use self-help programs and when to skip them”, in CNN, archived from the original on 13 Jun 2025:
"It turns out, there’s research that backs up the usefulness of lowering our expectations. Participants in one study had to make decisions that either led to financial gains or losses, all while inside a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. Researchers then duplicated this experiment as an app to crowdsource more data."
— 2024 May 14, Clay Drinko, “Lower Your Expectations”, in Psychology Today, archived from the original on 18 Dec 2025:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ of this tool was questioned after it broke on the first use.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The manager wondered about the ____ of the new software, as it seemed to be quite difficult to master today.