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

Behind her benevolent exterior, Lizzie was reportedly known to have a fiery temper. — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 17 Sep. 2026

Socialists are counting on the promise of a society where all needs are met by a benevolent government to convert voters to their ranks. — Nolan Finley The Detroit News, Arkansas Online, 9 Sep. 2026

Beyond this specific aspect, all on the team praised the benevolent and warm atmosphere in which the shooting took place. — Kevin Giraud, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026

In his day, as in ours, a dominant narrative portrayed scientific development as both benevolent and inevitable. — Dónal Gill, The Dial, 8 Sep. 2026

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