helpless

English

Etymology

From Middle English helples, from Old English *helplēas (“helpless”) from Proto-Germanic *helpōlausaz, equivalent to help +‎ -less. Compare Dutch hulpeloos (“helpless”), German hilflos (“helpless”), Danish hjælpeløs (“helpless”) and Swedish hjälplös (“helpless”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈhɛlplɪs/
Audio (US): (file)
Hyphenation: help‧less

Adjective

helpless (comparative more helpless, superlative most helpless)

Unable to defend oneself.
- 1995, Bryan Adams, Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?:
  Then when you find yourself lyin' helpless in her arms
  You know you really love a woman
- 2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: FTL Drive Codex entry:
  Rana Thanoptis: Are we good? Can I go?
  Shepard: You conducted brutal experiments on helpless test subjects. You helped Saren. You don't get to live.
Lacking help; powerless.
- 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 41:
  A gaoler struck him, pushing him back in place in the hopeless, helpless line of prisoners.
Unable to act without help; needing help; feeble.
Uncontrollable.
a helpless urge
(obsolete) From which there is no possibility of being saved.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
  For, while they fly that gulf's devouring jawes,
  They on the rock are rent and sunck in helplesse wawes.

Usage notes

Words with the suffix -less are often antonyms of those with -ful (such as with useless and useful). However, while helpful applies to something that provides help, helpless is not used to mean something that does not provide help. For that meaning, unhelpful is used instead.

Derived terms

Translations

unable to defend oneself — see also defenseless

Arabic: عَاجِز (ʕājiz)
Belarusian: бездапамо́жны (bjezdapamóžny), бяспо́мачны (bjaspómačny), бяссі́льны (bjassílʹny)
Bengali: অক্ষম (bn) (okkhom), লাচার (bn) (lacar), নাচার (bn) (nacar)
Bulgarian: безпо́мощен (bg) (bezpómošten), безси́лен (bg) (bezsílen)
Catalan: indefens
Chinese:
Mandarin: 無助的 / 无助的 (zh) (wúzhù), 無力的 / 无力的 (zh) (wúlì de)
Czech: bezmocný (cs), bezradný
Danish: hjælpeløs (da)
Dutch: hulpeloos (nl)
Esperanto: senhelpa
Finnish: avuton (fi)
French: sans défense
Georgian: უმწეო (umc̣eo)
German: hilflos (de)
Greek: αβοήθητος (el) (avoḯthitos)
Hindi: विवश (hi) (vivaś), असहाय (hi) (ashāy), अशक्त (hi) (aśakt)
Hungarian: kiszolgáltatott (hu), védtelen (hu)
Ido: senhelpa
Igbo: enweghị enyemaka
Irish: fágtha
Italian: indifeso (it)
Japanese: 無力な (ja) (むりょくな, muryoku na)
Khmer: ដែលឥតអនុភាព (dael ət a’nu’pʰiep)
Korean: 무력하다 (ko) (muryeokhada)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: ناچار (naçar), بێ دەسەڵات (bê desellat)
Latin: inops
Macedonian: беспомошен (bespomošen), немоќен (nemoḱen)
Malagasy: afa-manoatra
Maltese: hilflose
Maori: paraheahea
Norwegian:
Bokmål: hjelpeløs
Plautdietsch: halplooss
Polish: bezradny (pl), bezsilny (pl), bezbronny (pl)
Portuguese: indefeso (pt)
Romanian: neajutorat (ro)
Russian: беспо́мощный (ru) (bespómoščnyj), бесси́льный (ru) (bessílʹnyj)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: бе̏спомоћан

Roman: bȅspomoćan
Slovak: bezmocný, bezradný
Slovene: nemočni
Spanish: indefenso (es), desamparado (es) m
Swedish: hjälplös (sv)
Turkish: âciz (tr)
Ukrainian: безпо́мічний (uk) (bezpómičnyj), безси́лий (uk) (bezsýlyj)
Urdu: بے بس (be bas), مَجبُور (majbūr)
West Frisian: helpleas

lacking help; powerless

Hungarian: tehetetlen (hu)
Spanish: impotente (es)

unable to act without help; needing help; feeble

Bengali: অসহায় (bn) (ośohaẏ)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 無助的 / 无助的 (zh) (wúzhù)
Finnish: avuton (fi)
French: désemparé (fr)
Hindi: असहाय (hi) (ashāy), अशक्त (hi) (aśakt)
Hungarian: magatehetetlen (hu), gyámoltalan (hu)
Japanese: 無力な (ja) (むりょくな, muryoku na)
Korean: 무력하다 (ko) (muryeokhada)
Maori: mohemohe, paraheahea
Russian: беспо́мощный (ru) (bespómoščnyj), не́мощный (ru) (némoščnyj)
Spanish: incapaz (es), desvalido (es)
Ukrainian: безпора́дний (uk) (bezporádnyj), безпо́мічний (uk) (bezpómičnyj), безси́лий (uk) (bezsýlyj)

uncontrollable — see uncontrollable