How to Use helpful in a Sentence

helpful

adjective
  • A helpful neighbor shoveled our walkway.
  • The food’s good, the drinks at the bar are cold (and potent), the staff is friendly and helpful.
    — Mark Gauert, Sun Sentinel, 16 May 2025
  • There are helpful pop-up tips that ease users into the process.
    — Valerie Walsh, wsj.com, 1 Nov. 2023
  • Cool air from the fridge or freezer can be helpful as well.
    — Evan Forster, Parents, 17 June 2024
  • For one, taxi-whistling can, in fact, be helpful in hailing cabs.
    — Jon Gluck, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2023
  • Keep scrolling to see some other helpful home finds that are all on sale right now.
    — Toni Sutton, Peoplemag, 22 Sep. 2023
  • And so to try to play games with that, to me, one is not helpful, but two is not credible.
    — Fox News, 29 July 2022
  • Which isn’t to say the subsidies contained in the Chips Act won’t be helpful.
    — Dan Gallagher, WSJ, 29 July 2022
  • The options are helpful for people who need to avoid gluten, too.
    — Stacey Hugues, Verywell Health, 28 Feb. 2023
  • Is there a way to be helpful without losing her as a friend?
    — Judith Martin, The Mercury News, 8 May 2024
  • If not, a grinder brush, a soft, clean toothbrush, and a slightly damp rag can be helpful.
    — Maya Polton, Better Homes & Gardens, 9 June 2023
  • Stretching your hip, calves, and shins could be helpful.
    — Dr. Roshini Raj, Health, 1 Feb. 2023
  • But that's not super helpful if your phone has been snatched from a bag or pocket out in the wild.
    — Gabriel Zamora, PCMAG, 11 May 2023
  • Even doing this once a year or at least once during the loan term is helpful.
    — Elizabeth Rivelli, Car and Driver, 10 Nov. 2022
  • Even Trump’s helpers are not always helpful in the final days of a neck and neck contest.
    — Alexis Simendinger, The Hill, 1 Nov. 2024
  • The data are clear that these medicines, when used wisely, are helpful.
    — Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 2 Feb. 2023
  • To be able to make a little bit of light out of such a hard thing was really helpful.
    — Sydney Bucksbaum, EW.com, 28 Mar. 2023
  • And that's helpful now that there's a little bit more power.
    — Ezra Dyer, Car and Driver, 21 Nov. 2022
  • And your answering for the other commenter isn't helpful in the first place.
    — Nick Anderson, Washington Post, 8 Aug. 2023
  • Adding a future first could be helpful this season or down the road to grease a trade, as Weaver looks to build out the roster.
    — Marlowe Alter, Detroit Free Press, 18 Jan. 2023
  • Just getting out of the house and away from electronics is helpful.
    — Steve Sadin, Chicago Tribune, 28 Jan. 2025
  • This is a helpful list of poll closing times by state, via FiveThirtyEight.
    — Cate Martel, The Hill, 4 Nov. 2024
  • The website also has a helpful map that shows routes from a home airport.
    — Michael Cappetta, Travel + Leisure, 1 Aug. 2024
  • Just in case nobody got her point, the professor took the time to add helpful emojis: a knife, an axe, and drops of blood.
    — The Editors, National Review, 31 Oct. 2023
  • This belief is helpful to keep in mind when job searching.
    — Kim Thompson, Chron, 18 Nov. 2022
  • However, fans can be helpful in the winter as well to keep your house warm.
    — Jessica Bennett, Better Homes & Gardens, 31 Aug. 2022
  • The lack of much in the way of weather in our near future should be helpful for those last-minute holiday needs.
    — Ian Livingston, Washington Post, 20 Dec. 2023
  • But once on the stand, the witness, Shaun Fabos, offered a detail that was helpful to the defense.
    — Gene Maddaus, Variety, 24 Oct. 2022
  • This is where changing the way one frames mistakes in one’s head can be enormously helpful.
    — Harman Dayal, New York Times, 29 May 2025
  • Keeping a paper trail can be helpful when trying to resolve these kinds of issues.
    — Christopher Elliot, Mercury News, 28 May 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'helpful.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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