helpful

English

Alternative forms

helpfull (archaic)
helpefull (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English helpful; equivalent to help +‎ -ful.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈhɛlp.fʊl/, /ˈhɛlp.fəl/
Audio (US) (file)
Audio (US) (file)

Adjective

helpful (comparative more helpful, superlative most helpful)

Furnishing help; giving aid; useful.
a helpful clue
a helpful person
Antonym: unhelpful
- 1597, Jacques Guillemeau, A. M., transl., The Frenche chirurgerye‎, Dort: Iſaac Canin, page 48:
  […] inſtructe the yonge Chyrurgiane, becauſe that vvithout making any great delaye, he might be adiuvable & helpefull to the patient vvith theſe remedyes vvhich conſequently follovve.

Derived terms

helpfully
helpfulness
unhelpful

Translations

furnishing help; giving aid; useful

Afrikaans: behulpsaam
Arabic: نَافِع‎ (nāfiʿ), مُفِيد‎ (mufīd)
Armenian: օգտակար (hy) (ōgtakar)
Azerbaijani: köməksevər
Bulgarian: полезен (bg) (polezen), услужлив (bg) (uslužliv), отзивчив (bg) (otzivčiv)
Catalan: útil (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 有幫助 (zh), 有帮助 (zh) (yǒubāngzhù)
Czech: nápomocný
Danish: hjælpsom
Dutch: behulpzaam (nl)
Esperanto: helpema
Estonian: (of people) abivalmis (et); (useful) kasulik
Finnish: (of people) avulias (fi), auttavainen (fi); (useful) hyödyllinen (fi)
French: utile (fr), serviable (fr)
Georgian: დამხმარე (damxmare), მარგებელი (margebeli), სასარგებლო (sasargeblo), გამოსადეგი (gamosadegi), ვარგისი (vargisi)
German: hilfreich (de)
Greek:
Ancient: ὠφέλιμος (ōphélimos)
Gujarati: please add this translation if you can
Hindi: मददगार (hi) (madadgār)
Hungarian: segítőkész (hu), készséges (hu), szolgálatkész (hu), hasznos (hu)
Icelandic: hjálpsamur, gagnlegt
Ido: helpema (io)
Irish: cúntach
Italian: disponibile (it), utile (it), d'aiuto
Japanese: 役に立つ (ja) (yakunitatsu), 有用 (ja) (yūyō)
Javanese: please add this translation if you can
Latin: opifer, adiūtābilis
Norwegian: hjelpsom
Persian: please add this translation if you can
Plautdietsch: behelplich
Polish: pomocny (pl), uczynny (pl) (of people)
Portuguese: prestável (pt), útil (pt)
Romanian: util (ro), ajutător (ro)
Russian: поле́зный (ru) (poléznyj), (of people) любе́зный (ru) (ljubéznyj)
Scottish Gaelic: cuideachail
Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
Sorbian:
Lower Sorbian: pomocny
Spanish: servicial (es), útil (es)
Swahili: please add this translation if you can
Swedish: hjälpsam (sv)
Telugu: please add this translation if you can
Tocharian B: ekītatstse
Urdu: please add this translation if you can
Vietnamese: hay giúp đỡ