social service

noun

plural social services

: a program or effort designed to promote human or societal well-being

specifically : organized help for people who are in need of assistance with basic needs (such as food, housing, safety, or job training) or with medical needs (such as addiction or mental illness)

—usually plural

Most states are struggling with skimpy resources and a system of uncoordinated social services that is totally inadequate to serve a population of individuals whose needs are bottomless.

—Constance Holden

… attacked the idea of social services, claiming that the only entity entitled to provide care is the church, not the government.

—Tori Otten

—often used before another noun

social service agencies

Until the bridge's closure, the island hosted and supported social service programs including homeless shelters and an addiction recovery campus.

—Ellie Wolfe

Examples of social service in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The fiscally moderate Lamont has frustrated many of his fellow Democrats in the legislature’s majority in recent years by his reluctance to ease budget caps to permit greater spending on social services, health care, education, municipal aid and other core programs. —John Moritz, Hartford Courant, 3 Feb. 2026

José Andrés Díaz González, political scientist at Costa Rica’s National University in Heredia, told CNN that the security crisis is part and parcel with a decline in the country’s social services. —Djenane Villanueva, CNN Money, 1 Feb. 2026

But labor union officials disputed that, saying Newsom, whose budget did not include any suggestions to close gaps caused by the federal government’s steep cuts to Medi-Cal and a wide range of social services, isn’t coming up with other answers. —Andrew Graham, Sacbee.com, 30 Jan. 2026

Harriet Wallace, who works for a Nashville social services agency, said police and firefighters were visiting homes to check on older adults whose relatives couldn't reach them by phone. —Arkansas Online, 30 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1761, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for social service

• interservice
• disservice
• preservice
• nervous
• nervus