Useful is to useless as beautiful is to ... ?

Keeping in mind that this blog is named for a word that isn't but should be, there's a group of words having to do with quantities of qualities that are missing their natural opposites. For example:

• someone can be beautiful, but not beautiless
• mindful is not the opposite of mindless
• being a lawyer can be gainful employment; can't it also be gainless?
• my painting is worthless; why isn't Picasso's worthful?
• she has boundless enthusiasm; why isn't mine boundful?
• sometimes I'm clueless about something; I'm never clueful
• I'm also sometimes hapless, but I've never been hapful
• this blog can be playful, but it is rarely playless
• you can try to be masterful; if you fail, are you masterless?
• witless but not witful
• childless but not childful
• fitful but not fitless

Who decides this stuff anyway? Send me comments with other needful words and their apparently needless counterparts.

Comments

[rae reich]

Is the opposite of passive/aggressive aggressive/aggressive or aggressive/passive?

[rae reich]

Oops, sorry to have been a "slasher," Hope my meaning was clear, though. What should a person labelled passive aggressive become instead?