different between unused vs useless

English

Etymology

From un- +? used.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?n?ju?zd/, /?n?ju?st/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?n?juzd/, /?n?just/
• Rhymes: -u?zd, -u?st
• Hyphenation: un?used

Adjective

unused (comparative more unused, superlative most unused)

1. (not comparable) Not used.

   Synonyms: mint, new, pristine, virgin

   Antonyms: used, old, preloved, pre-owned, secondhand

2. Not accustomed (to), unfamiliar with.
   • 1985, John Irving, The Cider House Rules: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: William Morrow and Company, ISBN 978-0-688-03036-0; republished as The Cider House Rules, London: Black Swan, 1986, ISBN 978-0-552-99204-6, page 237:

     Oh shut up, Wally, Candy was thinking, although she understood why he couldn't stop babbling. He was unused to an environment he couldn't instantly brighten; he was unused to a place so despairing that it insisted on silence. He was unused to absorbing a shock, to simply taking it in. Wally's talk-a-mile style was a good-hearted effort; he believed in improving the world – he had to fix everything, to make everything better.

   Synonyms: unacquainted (with), unfamiliar with

   Antonyms: acquainted (with), familiar (with)

Usage notes

The second pronunciation (/-u?st/) is used for the “not accustomed” sense (especially in informal speech), and is a devoicing of the terminal /zd/ to /st/ under the influence of the /t/ of the following to. In very informal situations the final stop is often elided completely, leading to the pronunciation of “unused to” as a single word /??n.ju?s.t?/. In formal speech the second (/-u?st/) pronunciation is frequently proscribed in favour of the fully voiced (/-u?zd/) pronunciation, which is acceptable for either sense and is normally used for the “not used” sense in all registers.

Translations

Anagrams

• unsued

English

Etymology

From use +? -less.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?ju?s.l?s/

Adjective

useless (comparative more useless or uselesser, superlative most useless or uselessest)

1. Without use or possibility to be used.

2. Unhelpful, not useful; pointless (of an action).

3. (derogatory, of a person) Good-for-nothing; not dependable.

4. (colloquial, of a person) Unable to do well at a particular task or thing. Useless is mildly insulting.

Synonyms

• (good-for-nothing): good-for-nothing
• (unable to do well): unskillful

Antonyms

• skillful, useful

Derived terms

• uselessly
• uselessness

Translations