philanthropist

American  

[fi-lan-thruh-pist] / fɪˈlæn θrə pɪst /

noun

• philanthropists
  plural

1. a person, typically a wealthy one, who has an altruistic concern for human welfare and shows it by donating money, property, time, or work to aid people in need or to support institutions that serve the public.

   In his private life he was a major philanthropist who spent over $2 billion on causes ranging from education to healthcare.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• philanthropistic
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• philanthropists
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of philanthropist

First recorded in 1720–30; philanthrop(y) + -ist

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Explanation

A philanthropist is a person who gives money or gifts to charities, or helps needy people in other ways. Famous examples include Andrew Carnegie and Bill & Melinda Gates. In English, the -ist suffix describes a person who does a particular action. A philanthropist practices philanthropy. Philanthropists are wealthy people with a generous nature and a concern for human welfare. Philanthropy is from Late Latin philanthrōpia, from Greek, from philanthrōpos "humane, kind," from the prefix phil- plus anthrōpos "man, mankind."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

philanthropist philanthropists

His forebear Moses Montefiore was a British philanthropist who in 1840 helped secure the release of imprisoned Damascene Jews accused of blood libel—the false claim that Jews used Christian blood to bake matzo.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

A former farmer, philanthropist, and sheriff, the younger Buffett brings more than three decades of board experience to the role.

From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026

Sarah Jane has since carved out a career of her own in New York, working as a model, content creator and philanthropist.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

He also bought several historic buildings in the resort town of Crested Butte, Colo., where he and his philanthropist wife own a home.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026

Farmer and Goldfarb flew to New York for an emergency meeting with Soros and asked the philanthropist for more funding for Russia.

From "Mountains Beyond Mountains" by Tracy Kidder and Michael French

He added it was a "stamp of approval" for the project on the back of "millions generously donated by philanthropists, charitable funds and thousands of members of the public".

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

The only thing Mr. Yass is imagining is a future in which college and university presidents work with visionary philanthropists like him for the good of our country.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

The Microsoft founder and one of the world’s biggest philanthropists warns that artificial intelligence could be either a “great equalizer” or a force that widens the world’s inequality gap.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

In retirement, "Boss Zhu" published a number of books of speeches on economic reform, and was listed as one of the country's top philanthropists.

From Barron's ● Aug. 12, 2026

In the wake of Hadiya’s death, Tina had leveraged her local contacts, encouraging Chicago business leaders and philanthropists to work with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to expand community programs for at-risk youth across the city.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

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Related Words

• benefactor
• contributor
• donor
• patron

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