worthless

English

Etymology

From Middle English *wurthles, from Old English weorþlēas (“worthless”), equivalent to worth +‎ -less. Cognate with Dutch waardeloos (“worthless”), German wertlos (“worthless”), Swedish värdelös (“worthless”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɝθləs/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɜːθləs/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

worthless (comparative more worthless or worthlesser, superlative most worthless or worthlessest)

1. Not having worth and use, without value, inconsequential.

   Lies are as important as truth, for without lies, the truth is worthless.

   The committee's decision is worthless and not going to be acted upon.

   Don't be a worthless slouch! Go get yourself a job.

Derived terms

• worthlessly
• worthlessness

Synonyms

• useless
• miserable
• valueless

Antonyms

• worthful
• worthy
• useful
• precious
• valuable

Translations

not having worth and use, without value, inconsequential

• Arabic: لَا قِيمَةَ لَهُ‎ (lā qimata lahu)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 沒價值, 没价值 (méijiàzhí), 不值錢 (zh), 不值钱 (zh) (bùzhíqián), 無用 (zh), 无用 (zh) (wúyòng)

• Czech: bezcenný (cs) m
• Danish: værdiløs (da)
• Dutch: waardeloos (nl)
• Estonian: väärtusetu
• Finnish: arvoton (fi)
• French: sans valeur (fr), ne vaut rien, misérable (fr), nul (fr) m, nulle (fr) f
• Georgian: უსარგებლო (usargeblo)
• German: wertlos (de)
• Greek: άρχηστος (árchistos), τιποτένιος (el) (tipoténios), ανάξιος (el) (anáxios)
• Hausa: marasa amfani
• Hebrew: (without value) חסר ערך‎ (ḥɑsɑr ereḥ), (without use) חסר תועלת‎ (ḥɑsɑr toʿelet), עלוב‎ (he) (ʿɑluv)
• Hungarian: értéktelen (hu)
• Igbo: abaghi uru
• Italian: privo di valore, inutile (it) m, inconsistente (it), insignificante (it), senza valore
• Japanese: つまらない (ja) (tsumaranai), 無価値な (ja) (mukachi na), 軽賎な (keisen na)
• Korean: 가치없는 (gachieomneun), 보잘것없는 (ko) (bojalgeoseomneun)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: هیچوپوچ‎

• Latin: inutilis, nequam
• Lithuanian: bevertis
• Luxembourgish: wäertlos
• Macedonian: беско́рисен (beskórisen), бе́звреден (bézvreden)
• Maori: hakihakiā, taitāhae
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: verdiløs, verdilaus

  Nynorsk: verdilaus, verdlaus

• Pashto: بې کاره‎ (ps) (be kâra)
• Polish: nic nie wart m, bezwartościowy (pl)
• Portuguese: sem valor, inútil (pt) m, f
• Russian: ничего́ не сто́я́щий (ničevó ne stójáščij), бесполе́зный (ru) (bespoléznyj), никчёмный (ru) (nikčómnyj), никуды́шный (ru) (nikudýšnyj)
• Sanskrit: असार (sa) (asār)
• Scots: guidless
• Serbo-Croatian: bezvrijedan (sh)
• Spanish: sin valor
• Sundanese: teu aya hargana
• Swedish: värdelös (sv)
• Telugu: విలువ లేని (viluva lēni), కొరగాని (te) (koragāni)
• Turkish: değersiz (tr), kıymetsiz (tr), naçiz (tr)
• Yoruba: aláìníláárí