beneficent
adjective
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Definition of beneficent
1 : doing or producing good a beneficent policy especially : performing acts of kindness and charity a beneficent leader
2 : beneficial beneficent bacteria
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Synonyms & Antonyms for beneficent
Synonyms
benevolent, benignant, compassionate, good-hearted, humane, 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
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Examples of beneficent in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Having beneficent Jupiter and elusive Neptune as your co-ruling planets hints at your innate angelic, but spacey qualities. — Ashley Otero, Teen Vogue, "Who You Should Date, Based on Your Horoscope," 20 Aug. 2018 What, besides a desire to warm up his image, moved Rumsfeld to tell the story of Gerald Ford’s beneficent 895 days? — Evan Thomas, New York Times, "Gerald Ford, President Nice Guy," 26 June 2018 That narrative, that America’s drug economy represents a complicated but beneficent market system at work, is so ingrained it is usually stated as fact, even in the media. — Alexander Zaitchik, The New Republic, "How Big Pharma Was Captured by the One Percent," 28 June 2018 More tantalizing is a pie-in-the-sky idea: whether a beneficent billionaire, like Michael R. Bloomberg, could buy the company and either try to transform it or shut it down — a sort of philanthropic euthanasia in the name of gun control. — Andrew Ross Sorkin, New York Times, "Please, Please Buy This Gun Company," 14 May 2018 Bible study probably is the most beneficent for Reggie. — Rebecca Farley, refinery29.com, "Dear White People Season 2 Binge Club: Episodes 1 - 3 Recaps," 4 May 2018 Ohio 'not beneficent toward black people' Lynchings took many forms. — Mark Curnutte, Cincinnati.com, "Lynched in Oxford: Descendant tries to reconcile official, family histories of 1892 killing," 30 Apr. 2018 Many see Sheikh Amoudi less as a beneficent local son than a Saudi privateer. — Danny Hakim And Ben Hubbard, New York Times, "He Owns Much of Ethiopia. The Saudis Won’t Say Where They’re Hiding Him.," 16 Mar. 2018 The president clearly thinks his trade outburst will have the same beneficent effect on U.S. trading partners. — Alan Murray, Fortune, "Trump's Tariffs, AXA and XL, Qualcomm Pause: CEO Daily for March 5, 2018," 5 Mar. 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'beneficent.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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From the Editors at Merriam-Webster
How to Use 'Munificent' and 'Beneficent'
How to Use 'Munificent' and 'Beneficent'
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Dictionary Entries near beneficent
Statistics for beneficent
Last Updated
13 Nov 2018
Look-up Popularity
Time Traveler for beneficent
The first known use of beneficent was circa 1616
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More Definitions for beneficent
beneficent
adjective
English Language Learners Definition of beneficent
: doing or producing good
See the full definition for beneficent in the English Language Learners Dictionary
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