Help Synonyms | Uses & Example Sentences
As a verb, help means “to assist” or “to make better.” As a noun, it means “assistance” or “domestic worker.” It also has a few other meanings.
Some synonyms for help are:
- Aid
- Support
- Lend a hand
- Be of service to
- Enhance
- Improve
- Better
- Ease
- Alleviate
- Aid
- Support
- Advice
- Guidance
- Household staff
Table of contents
Synonyms for help
Some synonyms for help meaning “to assist” are closer matches than others. For example, “aid” is almost always a good replacement for help.
However, synonyms like “pitch in” and “chip in” require light rewrites (in this case, following the phrasal verb with the full infinitive). For example, “We’ll all help cook dinner” would become “We’ll all pitch in to cook dinner.”
| Match | Synonym | Help example | Synonym example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strongest | Aid | First responders helped the victims of the fire. | First responders aided the victims of the fire. |
| Support | My fiancé helped me a lot while I was busy working on this project. | My fiancé supported me a lot while I was busy working on this project. | |
| Lend a hand | My sister helped when I dyed my hair blonde. | My sister lent a hand when I dyed my hair blonde. | |
| Be of service to | A high degree of empathy often makes a person more likely to help others. | A high degree of empathy often makes a person more likely to be of service to others. | |
| Strong | Encourage | My college adviser helped me a lot throughout the application process. | My college adviser encouraged me a lot throughout the application process. |
| Back | I know they’ll help me in my campaign. | I know they’ll back me in my campaign. | |
| Facilitate | These universities are connected to help the sharing of resources. | These universities are connected to facilitate the sharing of resources. | |
| Promote | This initiative can help our mission overseas. | This initiative can promote our mission overseas. | |
| Weak | Save | Several Greek heroes are known for helping princesses captured by monsters or enemies. | Several Greek heroes are known for saving princesses captured by monsters or enemies. |
| Pitch in | The children helped clean up the beach. | The children pitched in to clean up the beach. | |
| Chip in | We can all help pay the bill. | We can all chip in to the bill. |
When help means “to make better,” some synonyms refer to making the quality or value of something better (e.g., “enhance”). Other synonyms denote improvement caused by reducing some negative element (e.g., “alleviate”).
A QuillBot Grammar Check can make sure that you use synonyms for help that are appropriate to your context.
| Match | Synonym | Help example | Synonym example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strongest | Enhance | Using more descriptive adjectives would really help this story. | Using more descriptive adjectives would really enhance this story. |
| Improve | Studying can help your exam scores. | Studying can improve your exam scores. | |
| Better | Practicing yoga has helped how I breathe. | Practicing yoga has bettered how I breathe. | |
| Ease | Meditation has helped my mother’s stress. | Meditation has eased my mother’s stress. | |
| Alleviate | Experts say stretching helps back pain. | Experts say stretching alleviates back pain. | |
| Strong | Relieve | This new lifestyle—especially my diet—has helped my gut problems. | This new lifestyle—especially my diet—has relieved my gut problems. |
| Ameliorate | We hope this reform will help living standards in the area. | We hope this reform will ameliorate living standards. | |
| Remedy | Some people believe turmeric helps inflammation. | Some people believe turmeric remedies inflammation. | |
| Assuage | Learning more about spiders helped his fear of them. | Learning more about spiders assuaged his fear of them. | |
| Weak | Cure | Proper treatment helped her illness. | Proper treatment cured her illness. |
| Perfect | Working with a trainer helped my form. | Working with a trainer perfected my form. |
- To take something without explicit permission (e.g., “help yourself to whatever you want”)
- To keep something from happening (e.g., “they couldn’t help how things turned out”).
The first meaning is always used with a reflexive pronoun (e.g., “yourself”). The second meaning is mostly used with the modal verbs “can” and could.”
| Match | Synonym | Help example | Synonym example |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strongest | Aid | That NGO provides help to displaced people. | That NGO provides aid to displaced people. |
| Support | Martha was an invaluable help during my crisis. | Martha was an invaluable support during my crisis. | |
| Advice | My grandmother’s help always sets me on the right path. | My grandmother’s advice always sets me on the right path. | |
| Guidance | The professor’s help was crucial for my dissertation. | The professor’s guidance was crucial for my dissertation. | |
| Strong | Backup | The extra volunteers were a great help at the event. | The extra volunteers were great backup at the event. |
| Cooperation | The team’s help sped the project up immensely. | The team’s cooperation sped the project up immensely. | |
| Weak | Service | We aim to provide top-quality help to our customers. | We aim to provide top-quality service to our customers. |
| Relief | The Red Cross provides help around the world. | The Red Cross provides relief around the world. |
Help also means “domestic worker.” This meaning—at least in American English—is outdated, and nowadays it carries a negative connotation. Using a synonym for help can help you avoid potential disrespect.
| Match | Synonym | Help example | Synonym example | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strongest | Household staff | The help is in the kitchen. | The household staff is in the kitchen. | |
| Nanny | The help takes the children to the park every day. | The nanny takes the children to the park every day. | ||
| Housekeeper | The help maintains our home. | The housekeeper maintains our home. | ||
| Cleaner | The help always leaves the kitchen spotless. | The cleaner always leaves the kitchen spotless. |
Frequently asked questions about help synonyms
- What’s a synonym for happy to help?
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Some synonyms for the adjective phrase “happy to help” are:
- Eager to assist
- Glad to be of service
- Always ready to lend a hand
- It’s my pleasure
- Anytime
- Certainly
You could also choose a synonym for help when it means “assist” and use it with “happy to.”
Or, QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can help you find other words to express your intended meaning.
- What’s a synonym for willing to help?
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Some synonyms for the adjective phrase “willing to help” are:
- Accommodating
- Eager
- Helpful
- Obliging
- Supportive
- Prepared to assist
- Available to help
To form more synonyms, take a synonym for help and add “willing to” in front of it.
You can also use QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to find other synonyms for this phrase.
- What’s a synonym for help out?
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“Help out” is a phrasal verb that means “help.” Therefore, synonyms for “help out” are very similar to the synonyms for help.
A few synonyms for “help out” that are also phrasal verbs are:
- Lend a hand
- Give a hand
- Pitch in
- Chip in
- Do a favor
QuillBot’s free Paraphraser can also help you find synonyms for your writing.
- What’s a good synonym for help for a resume?
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The verb “help” may be too generic or weak for a resume, and not including strong action verbs is a common resume mistake to avoid.
Some synonyms for help that are good for a resume are:
- Collaborated
- Supported
- Facilitated
- Partnered
- Guided
- Coordinated
- Contributed
You can also use QuillBot’s free Paraphraser to work more dynamic verbs into your resume.
