| 例句 |
useless adj.
⇨ useless (useless to protest) ⇨ incompetent (useless at French) useless adjective useless ♦︎ in vain ♦︎ pointless ♦︎ futile ♦︎ hopeless ♦︎ fruitless ♦︎ vain ♦︎ unusableThese words all describe sth which has no purpose or does not achieve what you want. 这些词均表示无用的、无效的、徒劳的。PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS 句型和搭配◆to be useless / pointless / futile / hopeless / fruitless / vain to do sth◆to be useless / pointless doing sth◆a useless / pointless / futile / fruitless exercise◆a futile / hopeless / fruitless / vain attempt◆a futile / fruitless / vain effort◆a hopeless / fruitless / vain task◆a futile / hopeless / fruitless / vain search◆largely useless / in vain / pointless / futile / hopeless / fruitless / vain◆seemingly useless / in vain / pointless / futile / hopeless◆completely useless / pointless / futile / hopeless / unusable◆utterly useless / pointless / futile / hopeless■ useless not useful; not doing or achieving what is needed or wanted 无用的；无效的；无价值的◆This pen is useless.这支笔没用了。◆He knew it was useless to protest.他知道抗议是徒劳的。◆It's useless worrying about it.为这事担心无济于事。◆The letter is useless as evidence.这封信作为证据毫无价值。◆The land is useless for cattle.这块地根本不能用来牧牛。◆The drug is useless in the treatment of patients with AIDS.这种药对治疗艾滋病人无效。◆The information was useless to him.这条信息对他来说没有价值。◆The quality ranged from acceptable to worse than useless.质量从尚可到非常糟糕不等。OPP useful ⇨ useful , valuable ⇨ valuable 2 ▸ uselessly adverb ◆The sail flapped uselessly.帆摆动着，却不起作用。■ in ˈvain idiom (written) not achieving what is needed or wanted; without success 徒劳无功；白费力气◆All their efforts were in vain.他们的所有努力都付诸东流了。◆They tried in vain to persuade her to go.他们极力劝说她去，但枉费了一番口舌。◆She waited in vain for her son to return.她等着儿子归来，但空等了一场。■ pointless having no purpose; not worth doing because there is no hope of success 无意义的；无目标的；不值得做的◆Trying to foresee the future is a pointless exercise.试图预测未来是毫无意义的事。◆It would be pointless for both of you to work on the same thing.你们俩做同一件事是毫无意义的。◆I knew it was pointless expecting him to change his mind.我知道指望他改变主意是徒劳的。OPP worthwhile ⇨ valuable 2 ▸ pointlessly adverb ◆He would argue pointlessly with his parents.他会无谓地和父母争论。■ futile / /ˈfjuːtaɪl; NAmE ˈfjuːtl/ (rather formal) ending in failure; having no effect or purpose 徒然的；徒劳的；无效的◆It was a futile gesture as the real damage had already been done.都已经造成真正的伤害了，做出那种姿态也是枉然。◆Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们努力使他苏醒，但失败了。▸ futility /fjuːˈtɪləti/ / noun [uncountable] ◆a sense of futility徒劳感◆the futility of war战争的徒然无益■ hopeless with no hope of success, improvement or of producing useful results 没有成功（或改善）希望的；无望的◆It's hopeless trying to convince her.想说服她简直是徒劳。◆Most students are making good progress, but Michael is a hopeless case.大多数学生都很有进步，唯有迈克尔不可救药。OPP hopeful ⇨ promising ■ fruitless (rather formal) producing no useful results 没有成果的；无成效的；徒然的◆He returned home after weeks of fruitless negotiations.他在进行了数星期毫无成果的谈判后回家了。◆The search proved fruitless.搜查最后只是徒劳。OPP fruitful ⇨ productive ■ vain [usually before noun] (written) not producing the result you want 徒劳的；枉然的；无结果的◆I knocked loudly in the vain hope that someone might answer.我敲门敲得很响，希望有人应声，却是徒然。■ unusable / /ˌʌnˈjuːzəbl/ / [not usually before noun] in such a bad condition or of such low quality that it cannot be used （破得或差得）不能使用，破烂不堪◆The damage rendered the building unusable.这次破坏使得这栋建筑已无法使用。◆The plutonium is unusable for anything until it is reprocessed.钚这种物质需要经过处理后方可使用。OPP usable ⇨ useful incompetent adjective incompetent ♦︎ bad ♦︎ rotten ♦︎ poor ♦︎ inept ♦︎ useless ♦︎ inadequateThese words all describe sb who does not have the skill or ability to do a task as it should be done. 这些词均形容人无能力的、不胜任的、不称职的。PATTERNS AND COLLOCATIONS 句型和搭配◆bad / rotten / poor / inept / useless at sth◆an incompetent / a bad / a rotten / a poor / a useless teacher / driver◆a bad / a rotten / a useless / an inadequate mother / father / parent◆hopelessly incompetent / inept / inadequate◆completely / totally incompetent / useless / inadequate◆very bad / poor / inept / inadequate■ incompetent / /ɪnˈkɒmpɪtənt; NAmE ɪnˈkɑːmpɪtənt/ (rather formal) not having the skill or ability to do your job or a task as it should be done 无能力的；不胜任的；不称职的◆She worked for years under an incompetent manager.她在一名不称职的经理手下工作了多年。◆They criticized his incompetent handling of the affair.他们批评了他在处理这件事上的无能表现。OPP competent ⇨ good 4 see also incompetent ⇨ loser noun 2 ▸ incompetence noun [uncountable] ◆government / police incompetence政府／警方的无能■ bad (especially spoken) not good or skilled at sth 不擅长的；不熟练的◆I would be a really bad teacher－I've no patience.我做老师可能会很不称职－我没有耐心。◆He's a bad loser (= he complains when he loses a game).他是个输不起的人。◆She is so bad at keeping secrets.她一点都不会保守秘密。 OPP good ⇨ good 4 ▸ badly adverb ◆He plays really badly.他表演得确实很差。■ rotten [usually before noun] (informal) very bad at sth 差劲的；拙劣的◆She's a rotten singer.她是个蹩脚的歌手。◆I've always been rotten at maths.我的数学一向很糟。 OPP great ⇨ good 4 ■ poor (rather formal) not good or skilled at sth 不擅长的；不熟练的◆Such a poor swimmer would not survive in that water for long.泳技这么差的人在那种水域里活不了很久。◆She's a good teacher but a poor manager.她长于教学，却拙于管理。OPP good ⇨ good 4 NOTE 辨析 Bad or poor? Poor is more formal than bad and is used more in written English. Bad is used more in spoken English. * poor比bad正式，较多用于书面语，bad较多用于口语。■ inept (rather formal) acting or done with no skill or judgement 缺乏技巧的；缺乏判断力的；笨拙的◆She was left feeling inept and inadequate.她被弄得自感笨拙无能。◆He made some particularly inept remarks.他说了一些特别蠢的话。ⓘ Inept is usually used to talk about sb's lack of social skills. * inept通常形容人缺乏社交技巧。▸ ineptitude /ɪˈneptɪtjuːd; NAmE ɪˈneptɪtuːd/ noun [uncountable] ◆the ineptitude of the police in handling the situation警方在处理这个局面时的无能■ useless (informal) very bad at sth; not able to do things well 差劲的；不行的；不擅长的◆I'm useless at French.我的法语不太行。◆Don't ask her to help. She's useless.别求她帮忙。她没那个能耐。NOTE 辨析 Rotten or useless? Rotten is used most often before a noun such as businessman, cook, driver, husband or wife; useless is more often used in the phrase useless at sth. * rotten最常用在businessman、cook、driver、husband、wife等名词前；useless最常用在短语useless at sth中◆useless at football / your job / remembering names不擅长足球；工作上无能；记不住名字Someone who is not able to do things well in general can be described as useless, but not 'rotten'. 笼统地形容人办事不力用useless，不用rotten◆Don't ask her to help. She's rotten. ■ inadequate /ɪnˈædɪkwət/ / not able, or not confident enough, to deal with a situation 不胜任的；缺乏信心的◆I felt totally inadequate as a parent.我觉得作为家长我完全不称职。ⓘ In this meaning, inadequate is usually used in the phrase to feel inadequate. When it comes before a noun, it usually describes a mother, father or parent. 表达此义时，inadequate通常用于短语to feel inadequate（感觉不称职）；另外也常用在名词前修饰mother、father或parent。 see also inadequate ⇨ inadequate |