Adjacent Words

Helpless definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

HELP'LESS, a. Without help in one's self; destitute of the power or means to succor or relieve one's self. A person is rendered helpless by weakness, or want of means.
An infant is helpless.
1. Destitute of support or assistance.
How shall I then your helpless fame defend?
2. Admitting no help; irremediable. [Not used.]
3. Unsupplied; destitute.
Helpless of all that human wants require. [Not used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: lacking in or deprived of strength or power; "lying ill and helpless"; "helpless with laughter" [syn: helpless, incapacitated]
2: unable to function; without help [syn: helpless, lost]
3: unable to manage independently; "as helpless as a baby"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: before 12th century 1. lacking protection or support ; defenseless 2. a. marked by an inability to act or react <the crowd looked on in helpless horror — Current Biography> b. not able to be controlled or restrained <helpless laughter> • helplessly adverb • helplessness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 lacking help or protection; defenceless. 2 unable to act without help. Derivatives: helplessly adv. helplessness n.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Helpless Help"less, a. 1. Destitute of help or strength; unable to help or defend one's self; needing help; feeble; weak; as, a helpless infant. How shall I then your helpless fame defend? --Pope. 2. Beyond help; irremediable. Some helpless disagreement or dislike, either of mind or body. --Milton. 3. Bringing no help; unaiding. [Obs.] Yet since the gods have been Helpless foreseers of my plagues. --Chapman. 4. Unsupplied; destitute; -- with of. [R.] Helpless of all that human wants require. --Dryden. -- Help"less*ly, adv. -- Help"less*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you are helpless, you do not have the strength or power to do anything useful or to control or protect yourself. Parents often feel helpless, knowing that all the cuddles in the world won't stop the tears... ADJ: oft ADJ to-inf, ADJ with n • helplessly Their son watched helplessly as they vanished beneath the waves. ADV: usu ADV with v • helplessness I remember my feelings of helplessness.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Weak, feeble, powerless, impotent, imbecile, disabled, infirm. 2. Exposed, defenceless, unprotected. 3. Irremediable, beyond help, remediless, irreparable, irretrievable, desperate.

Moby Thesaurus

abandoned, aidless, at sea, baffled, bare-handed, bewildered, blind, blind drunk, blotto, confounded, confused, crippled, debilitated, defenseless, dependent, deserted, desolate, disabled, enervated, enfeebled, exhausted, faint, fatherless, feeble, forlorn, forsaken, friendless, godforsaken, guardless, guideless, helpless, homeless, impotent, incapable, incompetent, inefficient, inept, infirm, kithless, lame, leaderless, motherless, muddled, mystified, nonplussed, out, out cold, outcast, overcome, paralyzed, passed out, perplexed, pregnable, prostrate, spent, stiff, stoned, unarmed, unarmored, unattended, unavailing, uncovered, undefended, under the table, unfit, unfortified, unfriended, ungarrisoned, unguarded, unprotected, unqualified, unscreened, unsheltered, unshielded, unsuspecting, untenable, unwarned, unwatched, useless, vulnerable, weak, weakened, weaponless, worn out, worthless