unhelpful

English

Etymology

From un- +‎ helpful.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʌnˈhɛlpfəl/

Adjective

unhelpful (comparative more unhelpful, superlative most unhelpful)

1. Not providing help or assistance; not helpful.

   Even if you are genuinely a victim, having a victim mentality is unhelpful because it is disempowering. ― Ned Kelly, "NFL Players Are Setting A Bad Example By Teaching Black People To Encourage Victimhood", 8th of October 2017

   • 1904, William Henry Hudson, Green Mansions, chapter XX:

     "Did you know, beloved, at the last, in that intolerable heat, in that moment of supreme anguish, that he is unlistening, unhelpful as the stars, that you cried not to him?"

   • 2011, Alan Bennett, “Baffled at a Bookcase”, in London Review of Books, XXXIII.15:

     The luckier and less disabled ones manned lifts or were posted at the doors of public buildings, a uniformed and bemedalled conciergerie who were more often than not unhelpful, making the most of whatever petty authority they were invested with.

Translations

not helpful

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 無益 / 无益 (zh) (wúyì)

• Danish: uhjælpsom
• Finnish: auttamaton (fi)
• French: inserviable
• German: unhilfreich
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: uhjelpsom

• Polish: nieprzydatny (pl)
• Spanish: poco / no servicial / útil / adyuvante / acomedido / solícito / oficioso / ayudador