Beneficent

//bəˈnɛ.fə.sənt// adj

adj ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Given to acts that are kind, charitable, philanthropic or beneficial.

    "beneficent spirit"

Adjective
  1. 1
    doing or producing good wordnet
  2. 2
    generous in assistance to the poor wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
eleemosynarygenerousalmsgivingaltruisticamicablebenefic

Example

More examples

"Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government's purposes are beneficent. Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding."

Etymology

From Latin *beneficens, *beneficent-, from bene (“well, good”) + -ficens, combining form from faciens, present participle of facere (“to make or do”). Compare English beneficence.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.