unhelpful

adjective

un·​help·​ful ˌən-ˈhelp-fəl How to pronounce unhelpful (audio)
 Southern often  -ˈhep-,
 also  -ˈheəp-
: offering no assistance : not helpful
a rude, unhelpful person
a confusing and unhelpful textbook
unhelpfully adverb
unhelpfulness noun

Examples of unhelpful in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
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Sleep trackers can even induce sleep anxiety, an unhelpful obsession with improving sleep that can paradoxically make your sleep worse. Mohana Ravindranath, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2025 Deep breathing exercises or other mind-body therapies like meditation can reduce this unhelpful reflex.20 Lying on your side: Lying on your side with your knees bent may ease or prevent kidney stone pain, especially while sleeping. Robert Burakoff, Verywell Health, 7 Apr. 2025 And, as the unhelpful rail company employee tells her, that’s not happening anytime soon. Kimberly Roots, TVLine, 23 Mar. 2025 However, some people develop unhelpful habits and ways of thinking about sleep that create a vicious cycle, said Krieger, who is also director of the Center for Sleep Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian. Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 19 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for unhelpful

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1616, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of unhelpful was circa 1616

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Cite this Entry

“Unhelpful.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/unhelpful. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.

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