benevolent

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“
There may have been, in those dim days when Lady Ferriby had played her part in the romantic story which all hinted at and none knew, another such as Tony Cornish--gay and debonair, careless, reckless, and yet endowed with the power of making some poor woman happy My dear aunt," replied Cornish, with a levity with which none other ever dared to treat her, "the benevolent are always greedy.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. adjective Characterized by or suggestive of doing good.
  2. adjective Of, concerned with, or organized for the benefit of charity.
  3. Syntax Note
    Synonyms: benevolent, charitable, eleemosynary, philanthropic
    These adjectives mean of, concerned with, providing, or provided by charity: a benevolent fund; a charitable foundation; eleemosynary relief; philanthropic contributions. See Also Synonyms at kind1.

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Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Cheshire explores the creation of Midway by his great-great-aunt Mary (or Mimi), and how she warped other's perception so that the family had a benevolent, aristocratic pedigree. —  New York Press
  • Đạo and I hope that he will hold truth to his name-benevolent, honorable, and respectable-throughout his life. —  Visualgui.com
  • The underlying dynamic behind this worldview is that Zionism is reasonable and essentially benevolent, therefore opposition to it must be irrational and violent. —  Lawrence of Cyberia
  • Living buildings must also be benevolent, and in no way evoke the terrifying anthropomorphic specter of ... le staypuft marshmallow homme: —  Portland Mercury
  • What Dr. Mahathir intuitively knew all along, is the potency and necessity of a political elite as a benevolent originator. —  SARA - Southeast Asian RSS Aggregator
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Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

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Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

humane ·  charitable ·  amiable ·  kindly ·  pious ·  enlighten ·  disinterested ·  patriotic ·  benign
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Old French, from Latin benevolēns, benevolent- : bene, well; see deu-2 in Indo-European roots + volēns, present participle of velle, to wish; see wel-1 in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. from late Middle English benevolent, benyvolent, from Old French benivolent, from Latin benevolen(t-)s (usually benevolus), well-wishing, from bene, well, + volens, present participle of velle, wish, = English will.
 

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/bəˈnɛvələnt/
by American Heritage

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