Phrase guide

better than nothing

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Barely useful; almost worthless or pointless, but nevertheless better than having nothing at all.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: comparative-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

18 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: bu da qənimət — almost worthless
  • Azerbaijani: o da qənimət — almost worthless
  • Chinese Cantonese: 好過冇 /好过冇 (hou2 gwo3 mou5) — almost worthless
  • Chinese Mandarin: 聊勝於無 /聊胜于无 (liáoshèngyúwú) — almost worthless
  • Finnish: tyhjää parempi — almost worthless
  • Finnish: parempi kuin ei mitään — almost worthless
  • French: mieux que rien — almost worthless
  • German: besser als nichts (gar) — almost worthless
  • Hungarian: jobb, mint a semmi — almost worthless
  • Italian: meglio di nulla — almost worthless
  • Italian: poco ma sicuro — almost worthless
  • Japanese: ないよりまし (nai yori mashi) — almost worthless
  • Polish: lepszy niż nic — almost worthless
  • Polish: dobre i to — almost worthless
  • Portuguese: melhor do que nada — almost worthless
  • Russian: лу́чше чем ничего́ (lúčše čem ničevó) — almost worthless
  • Spanish: mejor que nada — almost worthless
  • Swedish: bättre än inget — almost worthless