Helpless
['helplɪs] or ['hɛlpləs]
Definition
(adj.) unable to manage independently; 'as helpless as a baby' .
(adj.) unable to function; without help .
(adj.) lacking in or deprived of strength or power; 'lying ill and helpless'; 'helpless with laughter' .
Typist: Sanford--From WordNet
Definition
(a.) Destitute of help or strength; unable to help or defend one's self; needing help; feeble; weak; as, a helpless infant.
(a.) Beyond help; irremediable.
(a.) Bringing no help; unaiding.
(a.) Unsupplied; destitute; -- with of.
Checked by Hank
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Weak, feeble, powerless, impotent, imbecile, disabled, infirm.[2]. Exposed, defenceless, unprotected.[3]. Irremediable, beyond help.
Inputed by Agnes
Examples
- I was left helpless, with the prospect of a coming incumbrance in the shape of a child. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- I was quite helpless, and his ways with ladies were very endearing. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- He is now helpless, indeed--blind and a cripple. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- They would extract good from the excess of evil,[440] and presently France would fall back helpless into the hands of her legitimate masters. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I have starved her and the boy too; and now I am weak and helpless, Jem, she'll murder me for it; I know she will. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I feel so much more solitary and helpless without Lizzie now, than I used to feel before I knew her. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- She reclined, propped up, from mere habit, on a couch: as nearly in her old usual attitude, as anything so helpless could be kept in. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
- It does fit the first statement--in a helpless sort of way. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Helpless as a child which has sobbed and sought too long, she fell into a late morning sleep, and when she waked Mr. Casaubon was already up. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- But it's curious how much room there seems, a whole universe under there; and as cold as hell, you're as helpless as if your head was cut off. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- Joe looked at her in a helpless way, then took a helpless bite, and looked at me again. Charles Dickens. Great Expectations.
- It was all done so swiftly and deftly that the fellow was helpless before he knew that he was attacked. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Her heart was beating all over her body--in her throat, her limbs, her helpless useless hands. Edith Wharton. The House of Mirth.
- There was nobody else, sir, to take the little helpless creature in hand, replied Mrs. Clements. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- You mean--I'm so evidently helpless and defenceless? Edith Wharton. The Age of Innocence.
- We know what a masquerade all development is, and what effective shapes may be disguised in helpless embryos. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Mrs Wilfer stared, but was helpless. Charles Dickens. Our Mutual Friend.
- The idea that she had that helpless and gentle creature to protect, gave additional strength to the natural courage of the honest Irishwoman. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- Gudrun could hear the cattle breathing heavily with helpless fear and fascination. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- I was faint, and silent, and helpless. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- At last Loerke turned to Gudrun, raising his hands in helpless irony, a shrug of ironical dismissal, something appealing and child-like. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- He was, at that time, a very amiable and very helpless middle-aged gentleman, who was going out again directly. Charles Dickens. Little Dorrit.
- But he was inarticulate and helpless against them. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- The poor unfortunate lady fell out of one fit into another, and went on so till she was quite wearied out, and as helpless as a new-born babe. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- He replied in a hollow voice, Why deceive a helpless old man, why talk hypocritically to one half crazed? Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- The misery of a weak, helpless, dumb creature is surely one of the saddest of all the mournful sights which this world can show. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- His eyes looked at me again with the painful expression of inquiry, so wistful, so vacant, so miserably helpless to see. Wilkie Collins. The Moonstone.
- Ahab, the late King, had left a helpless family behind him, and Jehu killed seventy of the orphan sons. Mark Twain. The Innocents Abroad.
- O endless vocatives that would still leave expression slipping helpless from the measurement of mortal folly! George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- Call to mind that I am a very helpless and defenceless little thing. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
Inputed by Agnes