entitlement

[ en-tahy-tl-muhnt ]

noun

1. the act of giving, or the state of having, a title, right, or claim to something:

   She supported legislation to improve the lot of the elderly, including the entitlement of senior citizens to vote by absentee ballot.

2. a provision, amount, etc., to which one is entitled; a right:

   A good education is the moral entitlement of every child.

   Temporary teachers receive most of the entitlements of permanent teachers, including annual salary, on a prorated basis.

3. a government program, such as Social Security or unemployment insurance, that provides a benefit to eligible participants, or the benefit provided by such a program:

   Eligibility for this insurance program will be affected if there is also a Medicare entitlement.

4. the unjustified assumption that one has a right to certain advantages, preferential treatment, etc.:

   "Their sense of entitlement—I don't want to call it arrogance—makes dealing with some people difficult,'' said the senator.

Word History and Origins

Origin of entitlement¹

First recorded in 1825–35; entitle + -ment

Example Sentences

As a result, traditional dance forms like Bharatanatyam and Kathak were appropriated and turned into fiefdoms of upper-caste entitlement.

From Ozy

Such language is not only dismissive of our identities, but also reveals a deep hostility to our entitlement to equal protection of the law.

From Washington Blade

Even in North Carolina, he adds, it takes builders a year to buy a tract of land, get all the entitlements in place, add roads and sewers, then put up the homes.

From Fortune

The new entitlement will allow employees to take paid time off for part or all of 12 weeks over a 12-month period, effective with births, adoptions or foster placements that occur Thursday and after.

From Washington Post

After all, their companies have so skewed the meaning of being an employee by instilling such a sense of entitlement that this kind of response is predictable.

From Fortune

In one of the most distressing events of the year, nerd entitlement hit 100.

From The Daily Beast

In their elitism and sense of entitlement, they represent much of what liberals are supposed to despise.

From The Daily Beast

Because Medicaid is not required to cover HCBS, because a waiver is not an entitlement, there are long waits for waivers.

From The Daily Beast

No broad-based federal entitlement program has ever been eliminated.

From The Daily Beast

If only she could lose the humble bragging and the entitlement.

From The Daily Beast

I deduce all right and all entitlement from myself; I am entitled to everything that I have might over.

From Project Gutenberg

We increase spending next year for Social Security and Medicare and other entitlement programs by $81 billion.

From Project Gutenberg

The entitlement programs that make up our safety net for the truly needy have worthy goals and many deserving recipients.

From Project Gutenberg

We increase spending next year for Social Security and Medicare, and other entitlement programs, by $81 billion.

From Project Gutenberg

But I knows just from looking at him that he's too old for such a fancy entitlement as that.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• advantage
• allowance
• authority
• authorization
• benefit
• concession
• due
• exemption
• freedom
• immunity
• license
• opportunity
• prerogative
• right