How to Use helpless in a Sentence

helpless

adjective

• The crowd was helpless with laughter.
• He was helpless with rage.
• Firefighters were helpless against the blaze.
• The civilians were helpless against their attackers.
• I feel helpless. Isn't there anything I can do?
• Their conception of him is only as a helpless newborn in his mother’s arms.
  — The Rev. Dr. Wm. Louis "lou" Piel, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 4 Dec. 2020
• They have been forced to watch, helpless, as the price has risen and fallen sharply, unable to cash in on their digital wealth.
  — New York Times, 12 Jan. 2021
• For Ed, the search for Charlie came at a time when many people were feeling helpless.
  — M.l. Elrick, Detroit Free Press, 28 Dec. 2020
• New York's Nerlens Noel was helpless to stop him inside or outside.
  — Chris Hine, Star Tribune, 21 Feb. 2021
• Following neo-Fascists from one platform to another, some have said, is an inevitably helpless game of catch-up.
  — Jake Coyle, Star Tribune, 11 Jan. 2021
• The path to beating the coronavirus was clear, but Kelley Vollmar had never felt so helpless.
  — New York Times, 17 Jan. 2021
• The pandemic has made many people feel helpless, says Rev. Mark Feldmeir.
  — Clare Ansberry, WSJ, 15 Dec. 2020
• The pressure was mounting as New Orleans was making its fourth-quarter surge and the Celtics were left helpless.
  — Gary Washburn, BostonGlobe.com, 21 Feb. 2021
• Trauma can shatter your sense of security, leaving you feeling helpless and vulnerable in a dangerous world.
  — Omar Kelly, sun-sentinel.com, 17 Dec. 2020
• After mangling New York’s helpless frontline in the first half, the Knicks tried to adjust, sending more double teams in hopes of getting the ball out of his hands.
  — Chris Fedor, cleveland, 16 Jan. 2021
• But container ships can take six weeks to bring wine from Europe to the West Coast, meaning that many importers already had shipments under way and were helpless to avoid the new costs.
  — Esther Mobley, SFChronicle.com, 12 Jan. 2021
• That does not mean the rest of the staff has been helpless.
  — Sarah Valenzuela, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2023
• The staff couldn’t help but feel helpless about the future.
  — Lee O. Sanderlin, Baltimore Sun, 21 July 2023
• Feel helpless watching the agent zip-tie a green net around the crate.
  — Michelle Ye Hee Lee, Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2022
• Any of these tourist ships caught in the area at the wrong time would be helpless to capsize.
  — Bradley Brownell / Jalopnik, Quartz, 11 June 2024
• But then over the past few months, the tone went from helpless to straight up reckless.
  — Malaika Jabali, Essence, 25 Aug. 2021
• When children and teens feel helpless, the world can feel like a scary place.
  — Katie Hurley, CNN, 18 July 2022
• Unlike the dogs, there is a group of people who refuse to learn to be helpless.
  — Nathan Furr, Forbes, 17 Mar. 2023
• The Bears offense was mostly helpless in the first half.
  — Terry Pluto, cleveland, 26 Sep. 2021
• And those soldiers and marines feel very helpless about that.
  — ABC News, 15 Aug. 2021
• The rout was on, and the freshman quarterback was helpless to stop it.
  — Ryan Kartje, Los Angeles Times, 20 Nov. 2021
• Maybe tending to them, in a time of helpless loss, has been a way of making sense of grief.
  — Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 20 Apr. 2021
• Feeling helpless, the two went home to figure out what to do next.
  — Tricia Despres, PEOPLE.com, 5 Nov. 2021
• The lawsuit filed in Maryland provides the most detailed account yet of the cascading series of failures on the Dali that left the vessel’s pilots and crew helpless in the face of looming disaster.
  — Lea Skene and Alanna Durkin Richer, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2024
• According to Orloff, most people on the receiving end of trauma dumping will feel anxious, stressed, helpless and even depressed after the conversation.
  — David Oliver, USA TODAY, 23 Oct. 2024

Last Updated: 14 Dec 2024