beneficent

be·nef·i·cent

adjective \-sənt\

Definition of BENEFICENT

1

: doing or producing good; especially : performing acts of kindness and charity

2

: beneficial

— be·nef·i·cent·ly adverb

Examples of BENEFICENT

1. a humane and beneficent policy
2. <a beneficent couple who are regular volunteers at a homeless shelter>

Origin of BENEFICENT

back-formation from beneficence

First Known Use: 1616

Related to BENEFICENT

Synonyms

humane, benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, kind, kindhearted, kindly, softhearted, sympathetic, tender, tenderhearted, warmhearted

Antonyms

atrocious, barbaric, barbarous, bestial, brutal, brute, brutish, callous, cold-blooded, cruel, fiendish, hard-hearted, heartless, inhuman, inhumane, insensate, sadistic, savage, truculent, uncompassionate, unfeeling, unkind, unkindly, unsympathetic, vicious, wanton

Related Words

attentive, considerate, solicitous, thoughtful; affable, amicable, benign, companionable, comradely, cordial, friendly, genial, gentle, good, good-natured, good-tempered, gracious, mild, neighborly, nice, pleasant, sweet, warm; clement, forbearing, forgiving, lenient, merciful, soft; patient, pitying, tolerant, understanding; altruistic, brotherly, charitable, freehanded, generous, greathearted, humanitarian, liberal, magnanimous, munificent, noble, openhearted, philanthropic (also philanthropical), selfless, unselfish, unsparing; anticruelty, cruelty-free

Near Antonyms

ironhearted, merciless, pitiless, ruthless, stonyhearted; inconsiderate, insensitive, thoughtless, uncaring, unthinking; grim, hard-boiled, harsh, heavy-handed, severe, stern, tough, unsentimental; hateful, malevolent, malicious, malign, malignant, mean, nasty, spiteful, virulent; antihumanitarian, uncharitable