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Definitions

help

[help] / hɛlp /

Part of Speech:

All (4) Noun (2) Verb (2)

Jump To:

assistance, relief n.
someone employed, usually as a servant or manual laborer. n.
aid, assist v.
improve v.

NOUN

assistance, relief

Synonyms

STRONGEST

advice aid benefit comfort cooperation guidance hand service support use

STRONG

assist avail balm corrective cure lift maintenance nourishment remedy succor sustenance utility

WEAK

helping hand

Antonyms

STRONGEST

blockage encumbrance handicap hindrance hurt injury obstruction prevention

STRONG

disease

WEAK

check counteraction harm stop

NOUN

someone employed, usually as a servant or manual laborer.

Synonyms

STRONGEST

domestic employee hand helper hired help hired man servant staff worker

WEAK

assistant

Antonyms

STRONG

boss manager

WEAK

management

VERB

aid, assist

Synonyms

STRONGEST

back benefit bolster boost cooperate encourage further maintain promote push save serve stimulate support

STRONG

abet accommodate advocate ballyhoo befriend cheer endorse hype intercede patronize plug prop puff relieve sanction second succor sustain uphold

WEAK

be of use buck up do a favor do a service do one's part go to bat for go with lend a hand open doors root for see through stand by stick up for stump for take under one's wing work for

Antonyms

STRONGEST

block condemn delay depress discourage dissuade halt harm hinder hurt impede neglect obstruct prevent refuse stop undermine

STRONG

conceal disapprove frustrate hide ignore oppose protest

WEAK

check counteract decrease injure worsen

VERB

improve

Synonyms

STRONGEST

alleviate ease facilitate restore revive treat

STRONG

ameliorate amend attend better cure doctor heal meliorate mitigate nourish palliate relieve remedy

Antonyms

STRONGEST

destroy hurt increase

STRONG

accuse blame condemn depress harm injure neglect worsen

WEAK

block check counteract decrease hinder obstruct stop

Frequently Asked Questions

What is another word for help?

A close synonym of the verb sense of help is assist. Assist can mean the same thing as help, but it can imply that the assistance is only part of the help being offered. The informal term lend a hand (in which a hand means assistance) often means the same thing. Some close synonyms for help can be used as a noun or as a verb: aid and support. Each can have different shades of meaning. Aid is more formal, and it’s often used in the context of serious situations. Support can be used in different ways. It often emphasizes the fact that the person being helped is not alone. Other synonyms for help are more specific. Guide means to help someone with a task or activity as they do it by providing guidance along the way—which is a bit more hands-on than advising (giving advice). Relief is often used in the context of helping those who are desperately in need, as in Multiple agencies are working to provide relief to those affected by the hurricane. Many of the noun synonyms of help can be used with the word provide to create synonyms of the verb sense: provide assistance, provide aid, provide support (and of course provide help). Sometimes, help means the same thing as facilitate, further, promote, or foster, as This legislation will help economic growth.

What is a fancier word for help?

Help is a very common word. Much less common terms that can mean the same thing are succor and abet. Succor can be used as a noun or a verb—and it can also refer to a person who provides help. It can sound a bit literary or formal—it’s probably most commonly encountered in older literature. Abet is most commonly used in the context of assisting someone with a crime—particularly in the phrase aid and abet.

What are some synonyms for other forms of help?

What is another word for helping? Helping describes giving aid, help, and support. Synonyms for this include assisting, guiding, and advising. Assisting suggests that you’re giving consistent or formalised support. Essentially, it implies that it’s part of your role to help out, where helping suggests that the help was optional. Guiding suggests that you’re more experienced than the person you’re helping, and you’re helping them to gain experience or improve. Advising also suggests that you know more than the person you’re helping, but in this case you’re offering advice when it’s needed. You might not have a hands-on role, but your advice is important. What is another word for helpful? If someone is helpful, you might describe them instead as supportive, friendly, useful, valuable or accommodating. Useful and valuable are most often used in workplaces to describe people, and you wouldn’t usually describe your friend that way. Supportive, friendly, and accommodating can be used in a wider variety of situations. Accommodating suggests that someone is understanding about your needs or requests, and will change things around to make you comfortable. If something is helpful—say advice, or a certain tool—you might describe it as beneficial or invaluable. Beneficial means that it offers a benefit, and invaluable means that it’s beyond valuable—that it’s important or necessary. What is another word for helper? A helper is an assistant. They might be an apprentice if they’re helping you in order to learn a trade or profession. If you’re a supervillain, they might be a henchman. They might be your subordinate, your deputy, or your right-hand-man. What can you say instead of helping others? There’s no direct synonym for the phrase helping others, but depending on the circumstances, you could use giving advice, having a support role or offering guidance. Have a think about what kind of help you’re offering, and once you’ve found a more specific word you can build your own phrase around that! What is another word for helpfulness? Instead of helpfulness, you can use usefulness, assistance, or help.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

help helps helped helping

However, this could also help the trade overall as it might also subdue worries about overfunding.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

But the U.S. needs help from allies to pull off the turnaround, The Wall Street Journal’s Timothy W. Martin writes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

She said she’s spent years seeking help from Raman’s staff, including to make repairs on sidewalks and pavement outside the restaurant, and to remove a homeless encampment that sprang up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

Even Carroll herself couldn’t help but point out the pattern.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

The only thing Mom hates more than accepting help is needing it in the first place, and that’s what being Native seems to mean to her.

From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Before becoming deputy mayor, Winston also ran the California Strategic Growth Council, which helps fund sustainable development.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 25, 2026

And it helps explain why the male Instacart shopper meme has proven so durable.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

Subsequent research has strengthened the discovery, revealing that the same protein helps regulate how much energy the body burns.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026

But none of that helps to verify the claim to the title of England's oldest pub - so what does?

From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026

She helps me sit up enough to take a sip of water with a couple of Tylenol.

From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell

He said those institutional managers sold semiconductor names as they started to rally this year, which helped limit their losses as chips fell out of favor — but they aren’t ready to buy back yet.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026

Most recently, she helped Vega with permitting issues on the restaurant’s outdoor patio.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

Results from Tesla and Meta last week further stoked spending worries and helped drag stocks lower.

From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026

Along the way, they helped turn Halloween into a $13.1 billion consumer business in 2025.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2026

I had helped to make an igloo at school, so I showed her how to cut the blocks.

From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell

AI-linked stocks drove $138 billion in gains across 13 public-pension funds since 2022, helping them dig out of losses from the last financial crisis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

Months later, he was helping her out in a different way: running Unidos Con Karen Bass, an outside campaign committee supporting her reelection.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026

The office’s work ranged from helping secure events like the Super Bowl to protecting chemical plants to issuing cybersecurity warnings to the private sector and the public.

From Salon ● Oct. 26, 2026

He wasn’t working per se, just helping out Keket, a friend.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

Sure, I’m busy helping him, but I’m getting benefit from it too.

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

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