largesse

noun

lar·​gesse lär-ˈzhes  lär-ˈjes 

also ˈlär-ˌjes

variants or less commonly largess

1

: liberal giving (as of money) to or as if to an inferior

a philanthropist known for his largesse

also : something so given

projects depending on a flow of federal largesse

2

: generosity

… his generosity of spirit, an absolutely natural largesse …

—Harvey Breit

Did you know?

The English language has benefited from the largesse of Anglo-French, through which a generous number of words have passed; examples range from simple to account to desert. English speakers owe Anglo-French a huge thanks, in particular, for its adjective large. That word, meaning "generous, broad, or wide," is the source of both largesse and the familiar duo of large and enlarge. Most people understand enlarge to mean "to make larger," but a less common sense (used in Shakespeare's Henry V) is "to set free." Largesse also contains the notion of freedom, specifically with regard to a lack of financial constraints: it's not about having a "large" amount of money but rather being "free" with it. Incidentally, the English word large wasn't about size when it was first adopted in the 13th century. Back then it meant "lavish."

Synonyms of largesse

• gift
• donation
• presentation
• present

Examples of largesse in a Sentence

He relied on the largesse of friends after he lost his job.

Recent Examples on the Web

Clark’s later offer to pay for their son’s private-school tuition is a more complicated largesse. — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 July 2026

Venezuela has run aground under a Chavista regime since 1999, when Hugo Chavez rose to power and created a regime combining left-wing populism, authoritarianism, petro-state largesse, and anti-Americanism. — Rafael Osío Cabrices, Time, 20 July 2026

Once sufficient displays of submission had been extracted, would the bankrollers of the civic-education movement redirect their largesse back toward places like that? — Ann Manov, Harpers Magazine, 30 June 2026

Yet these easy luxuries have simultaneously raised the entitlement of citizens and their expectations of largesse from their underfunded, over-bureaucratized, overpromising governments, which are left seeming slow and inept. — Simon Sebag Montefiore, The Atlantic, 28 June 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English largesse, from Anglo-French, from large

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for largesse

• abbess
• abscess
• access
• address
• assess
• caress
• confess
• depress
• digress
• distress
• egress
• excess

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Kids Definition

largesse

noun

lar·​gesse

variants also largess

lär-ˈzhes  lär-ˈjes 

1

: generous giving

2

: a generous gift