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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

"If I look at it cynically, I can't help but think that maybe she really wants to change" Japan's anti-nuclear commitment, 82-year-old Satoshi Tanaka, a campaigner who survived the 1945 attack on Hiroshima, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

Kadyrov made no secret of his support for Bakalchuk and posted several videos on social media saying how Kim had been led astray and that he wanted to help the couple.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

Disappointed with the court outcome, Lissie said she was determined to fight to "help others" and get justice for Andrew.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

Abdolreza Davari, an analyst who once advised former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said Iran’s effective control of the strait has given it leverage with the U.S. and regional countries that can help guarantee its security.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

Arlo can’t help but laugh, and Dad pretends to be wounded.

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Planting native broadleaf trees creates cooler, shadier woodland that is less likely to ignite, while restoring rivers and wetlands helps hold water in the landscape, keeping surrounding land damp.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

It helps that Early’s vision of our media-steeped contemporary lives sees through the shiny, digital facade.

From Salon ● Aug. 8, 2026

As this electrically conducting liquid iron moves, it helps generate the planet's geomagnetic field.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 7, 2026

“There are storm clouds on the ground, but rainbows and sunshine in the air,” said Mark Coleman, chief commercial officer at Intervine, which helps wineries get their bottles on airlines like Delta and United.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Of course, if you are going to gamble on a CDO, it helps to know what, exactly, is inside a CDO, and they still didn’t.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

They have also unnerved survivors of the 1945 bombings, who have long helped shape Japan's post-war pacifist political culture.

From Barron's ● Aug. 9, 2026

It has helped him raise the massive fortunes required to build cash-hungry companies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

She said the train crew "helped as much as they could, but there was nothing they could do".

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

This salty chemistry could have important implications for understanding the chemical conditions that helped produce molecules relevant to life.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 8, 2026

Glenn Tarbox had helped me put up the school stove.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

This suppresses appetite and keeps people feeling fuller for longer, helping them to lose weight.

From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026

At the publisher Schocken Books, she worked on American editions of Kafka, helping give a second address to a Jewish literature deprived of much of its native readership.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

There he managed hard rock acts including Korn and Limp Bizkit, helping make them superstars of the “TRL” era.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

I am the closest family member, so I’ve been taking my brother to treatments, helping manage his care and maintaining his property.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026

Betsie placed a helping of sausage and potato before him.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

help

Frequently Asked Questions

Example Sentences

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