Synonyms of benevolent

benevolent

adjective

bə-ˈnev-lənt 

1

as in compassionate

having or marked by sympathy and consideration for others

a benevolent willingness to provide veterinary services to low-income families at greatly reduced prices

Synonyms & Similar Words

• compassionate
• kind
• sympathetic
• humane
• gentle
• thoughtful
• beneficent
• gracious
• kindly
• friendly
• kindhearted
• merciful
• benignant
• generous
• nice
• sweet
• good-hearted
• good
• humanitarian
• tender
• warmhearted
• pleasant
• softhearted
• attentive
• benign
• tenderhearted
• patient
• warm
• considerate
• solicitous
• charitable
• mild
• good-natured
• genial
• affable
• noble
• neighborly
• pitying
• cordial
• philanthropic
• soft
• altruistic
• lenient
• companionable
• amicable
• liberal
• magnanimous
• forbearing
• forgiving
• munificent
• selfless
• unselfish
• tolerant
• comradely
• good-tempered
• understanding
• brotherly
• clement
• unsparing
• openhearted
• freehanded
• greathearted
• anticruelty
• cruelty-free

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• cruel
• sadistic
• vicious
• savage
• brutal
• heartless
• callous
• inhuman
• unkind
• ruthless
• barbarous
• unsympathetic
• unfeeling
• brute
• barbaric
• brutish
• fiendish
• truculent
• bestial
• inhumane
• atrocious
• pitiless
• merciless
• insensate
• thoughtless
• uncaring
• insensitive
• severe
• unthinking
• stern
• uncompassionate
• cold-blooded
• hard-hearted
• harsh
• inconsiderate
• grim
• malevolent
• unkindly
• malignant
• tough
• malicious
• wanton
• unsentimental
• mean
• spiteful
• virulent
• hateful
• malign
• nasty
• ironhearted
• stonyhearted
• uncharitable
• heavy-handed
• hard-boiled
• antihumanitarian

2

as in charitable

having or showing a concern for the welfare of others

a benevolent businessman who has donated money and time to helping inner-city youths

Synonyms & Similar Words

• charitable
• philanthropic
• humanitarian
• good
• generous
• beneficent
• altruistic
• do-good
• eleemosynary
• handsome
• liberal
• selfless
• compassionate
• humane
• magnanimous
• munificent
• free
• unselfish
• kind
• bountiful
• bounteous
• kindhearted
• self-sacrificing
• unsparing
• openhanded
• openhearted
• bighearted
• freehanded
• greathearted
• social-minded

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• selfish
• self-centered
• parsimonious
• stingy
• miserly
• cheap
• self-seeking
• pitiless
• tightfisted
• tight
• self-concerned
• unfeeling
• hard-hearted
• self-indulgent
• closefisted
• self-obsessed

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of benevolent

The teaser also offers glimpses of Vincent Lindon as Jean Valjean, the ex-convict who rebuilds his life as a benevolent industrialist, and Tahar Rahim as Inspector Javert, Valjean’s relentless nemesis. — Elsa Keslassy, Variety, 2 July 2026

Even though there are other siblings in the Fak family that make an appearance on The Bear, these brothers take center stage for their occasional quarreling and their benevolent behavior toward each other. — Lisa Stardust, PEOPLE, 25 June 2026

Hostile and benevolent sexism are early indicators of deeper problems. — Susan Madsen, Forbes.com, 23 June 2026

The vaunted ability of mass media to unify the globe here comes off as a benevolent form of tyranny, of a consensual unanimity in which the bearer of truth gains total attention, total acceptance, and total gratitude. — Richard Brody, New Yorker, 16 June 2026

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