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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of benevolent
One benevolent man took out his phone and pulled up the CBS app to stream the show on the smallest of screen as tens of people watched over his shoulder.
—
Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 9 June 2025
We Christians are sometimes tempted to consider the commitment to love our neighbor in sentimental ways, as a warm feeling in the heart, but nothing more binding than benevolent feelings toward another.
—Rick Fry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
Erwitt, who died in 2023, at 95, was known for his photographs of benevolent irony.
—Air Mail, 31 May 2025
Elsewhere, organised crime still has its tendrils in many parts of the sport across the globe, and the misty-eyed reverence for benevolent local tycoons is a notion that went extinct before the Tasmanian tiger.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for benevolent
Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 9 June 2025
We Christians are sometimes tempted to consider the commitment to love our neighbor in sentimental ways, as a warm feeling in the heart, but nothing more binding than benevolent feelings toward another.
—Rick Fry, San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 June 2025
Erwitt, who died in 2023, at 95, was known for his photographs of benevolent irony.
—Air Mail, 31 May 2025
Elsewhere, organised crime still has its tendrils in many parts of the sport across the globe, and the misty-eyed reverence for benevolent local tycoons is a notion that went extinct before the Tasmanian tiger.
—Jacob Whitehead, New York Times, 2 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for benevolent
Recent Examples of Synonyms for benevolent
Adjective
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Doctor providing compassionate healthcare consultation while young couple patient holding hand, comfort each other after infertile report.—
Daniella Gray,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 June 2025
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Empathy enhances your conversations as Mercury aligns with compassionate Neptune.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
28 June 2025
Adjective
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Buckingham, on her part, just wants to know the whereabouts of Rak and to go forward with other charitable efforts.—
Deborah Laverty,
Chicago Tribune,
30 June 2025
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The charitable event, which launched in 2006 as an offshoot of the 24 Hour Plays project, has strict rules.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
30 June 2025
Adjective
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Despite the criticism, Tonn remains grateful for the support the video has brought to the dog's case, and the majority of kind comments.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
25 June 2025
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Much like his character, Boyce is mild-mannered, kind and effortlessly funny.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
25 June 2025
Adjective
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Art Environments The Kohler Foundation is the philanthropic arm of the Kohler Co., a global manufacturing giant headquartered in Kohler, WI.—
Chadd Scott,
Forbes.com,
7 June 2025
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For estate planners, CPAs, and financial advisors, the key takeaway is that tax tools should serve philanthropic intent, not drive it.—
Matthew F. Erskine,
Forbes.com,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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Iran’s missile strike against a U.S. military base in Qatar was met with near-unanimous rebuke in the Middle East, including from sympathetic powers such as Oman.—
Brady Knox,
The Washington Examiner,
23 June 2025
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Trump and his cabinet members have repeatedly characterized Khalil’s advocacy as antisemitic and as being sympathetic to Hamas, which the U.S. designates as a terrorist organization.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
20 June 2025
Adjective
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In Pip Adam’s extraordinary, humane book Audition, the stars are both a dystopian place and a site of uncharted possibility.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
21 June 2025
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After relying on his instincts, Cloudy was among the cats captured and brought to the shelter for care, the humane society wrote in a Facebook post.—
Simone Jasper,
Charlotte Observer,
18 June 2025
Adjective
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Both the House and Senate bills would phase out the more generous deduction for many households starting at $500,000.—
Howard Gleckman,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
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As much as people talk about the U.S. and other countries becoming ever more individualistic, generations of American kin are arguably growing closer on average, researchers told me, and becoming more generous with one another.—
Faith Hill,
The Atlantic,
30 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Benevolent.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/benevolent. Accessed 6 Jul. 2025.
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