bestowed

[bih-stohd]

adjective

1. presented as a gift or privilege; given or conferred.

   As the official addressed them, some members of the audience shouted with joy over their newly bestowed citizenship.

2. Archaic.,  applied; put to some use.

   If I regarded the present discussion concerning baptism as only about mere mode or form, I should think my time and labor poorly bestowed.

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of bestow.

Other Word Forms

• unbestowed adjective
• well-bestowed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bestowed¹

bestow ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

Selvaraju’s mother, at the age of seven, was taken to that same market and, similarly, bestowed with the gift of becoming an exceptional cook.

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When I look back over these past months I am overwhelmed by the kindnesses bestowed not only on me but on my wife and daughters.

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Of the many double-edged gifts bestowed upon us by the streaming service gods, the welter of celebrity documentaries is perhaps the most remarkable.

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While extolled by supporters as Venezuela’s “dama de hierro” — the iron lady, a sobriquet bestowed decades ago on British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher — Machado is a controversial figure, even within the Venezuelan opposition.

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Foreign policy becomes an instrument of naked personal despotism, with favors bestowed on those who burnish the leader’s vanity, and yanked away from those who decline to do so.

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