welfare state

noun

1

: a social system based on the assumption by a political state of primary responsibility for the individual and social welfare of its citizens

2

: a nation or state characterized by the operation of the welfare state system

Examples of welfare state in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Opponents of immigration are prone to say that the existence of the welfare state makes the inflow of workers from Central America a non-starter. —John Tamny, Forbes.com, 12 June 2025

Since 1980, the working people in countries that built welfare states have only lost, while income concentration has increased. —Jon Lee Anderson, New Yorker, 8 May 2025

The deluge of immigration that followed has strained Canada’s welfare state and exacerbated the housing shortage. —The Editors, National Review, 7 Jan. 2025

The same goes for Brenda Blethyn, so effortlessly affecting as a wife and mother reduced to becoming a client to the welfare state, a degradation that Colleen just can’t begin to tolerate. —Damon Wise, Deadline, 6 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1894, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for welfare state

• abbreviate
• accelerate
• accommodate
• accumulate
• acuminate
• adjudicate
• adulterate
• affiliate
• agglomerate
• agglutinate
• alleviate
• amalgamate

Kids Definition

welfare state

noun

: a social system in which the government takes on much of the responsibility for the individual and group welfare of its people