benefit
Americannoun
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benefits
plural
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something that is advantageous or good; an advantage.
He explained the benefits of public ownership of the postal system.
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a payment or gift, as one made to help someone or given by an employer, an insurance company, or a public agency.
The company offers its employees a pension plan, free health insurance, and other benefits.
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a theatrical performance or other public entertainment to raise money for a charitable organization or cause.
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Archaic. an act of kindness; good deed; benefaction.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
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something that improves or promotes
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advantage or sake
this is for your benefit
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an allowance paid by the government as for sickness, unemployment, etc, to which a person is entitled under social security or the national insurance scheme
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any similar allowance in various other countries
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(sometimes plural) a payment or series of payments made by an institution, such as an insurance company or trade union, to a person who is ill, unemployed, etc
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a theatrical performance, sports event, etc, to raise money for a charity
verb
Usage
What are other ways to say benefit?
A benefit is something that is advantageous or good. When should you use benefit instead of advantage or profit? Find out on Thesaurus.com.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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benefiternoun
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benefitternoun
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self-benefitnoun
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superbenefitnoun
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prebenefitverb
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self-benefitingadjective
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self-benefittingadjective
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unbenefitedadjective
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unbenefitingadjective
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unbenefittedadjective
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unbenefittingadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of benefit
First recorded in 1350–1400; late Middle English noun benefytt, benefett, alteration (with Latinized first syllable) of Middle English b(i)enfet, benefait, from Anglo-French benfet, Middle French bienfait, from Latin benefactum “good deed”; see bene- ( def. ), fact ( def. )
Explanation
A benefit is something that helps you, whether in the form of health insurance provided by an employer, welfare given by the government to those in need, or the benefit of the doubt extended to you by a friend. The Latin bene- "good" is at the heart of the word benefit, which derives from the Latin benefactum "good deed." When attendance at a party or an event raises money for a charity, the event is referred to as a benefit in that charity's honor.
Vocabulary lists containing benefit
Take the Bad with the Good: Bene and Mal
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Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 11-20
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"The Perils of Indifference," Vocabulary from the speech
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“I hope it creates a high tide and everybody on the Sunset Strip gets the benefit of the tide rising and gets lifted up,” he says.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
One practical benefit of speed-limiters, supporters say, is that motorists can keep driving wherever they want, whereas some license suspensions allow only a work commute, if at all.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
Contoret said schools and local charities were best placed to identify families who could benefit from the scheme and ensure gifts were distributed discreetly.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2026
It also had the practical benefit of keeping remains safe from wild animals and flooding.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
He assumes that free cocoa is a benefit of being a member of the circus.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
Because the money is going to benefits instead.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2026
The Bass administration has increased pay and benefits to thousands of city employees and police officers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 3, 2026
"But I think the biggest long-term impact comes from the fact that the UK won't get the benefits from training young people who really are our greatest product."
From BBC ● Nov. 3, 2026
Although medications that remove amyloid-beta have demonstrated modest but measurable clinical benefits, they do not fully address the many biological processes involved in the disease.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026
“Well,” said Malfoy, lowering his voice to a whisper, “partly, Potter. But there are other benefits too. Weasley, slice my caterpillars for me.”
From "Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban" by J.K. Rowling
Bass, for her part, benefited from $2 million in spending by the downtown-based Central City Assn. during the runoff.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2026
The company benefited from organic sales growth of 5.1%, topping its 3% target.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
While Reddit may have benefited from this lag as its revenue was improving, the lower-than-expected forecast and drop in daily active uniques in the U.S. suggests the opposite is occurring, the analysts said.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 30, 2026
Together, the results suggest that crocodiles may have benefited from living in regions where temperatures remained within their preferred range, even as conditions became much less favorable for many dinosaurs.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 30, 2026
Instead, Dasch lied again, telling them he was a salesman for an importer and exporter of goods that had secretly benefited Nazi Germany.
From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple
There wasn’t an obvious catalyst driving shares higher, but they were probably just benefiting from a broader market rebound.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
Verstappen benefiting from the internal battle to take his third win in four races.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
He said that SK Hynix is benefiting from the fact that the memory industry is moving from older high-bandwidth HBM3E memory chips to higher-priced HBM4 chips.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 28, 2026
Broadly, though, the stock is benefiting from strong spot pricing for compute.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026
No one had any doubt that it was not the animals but their owners who were benefiting from the law.
From "1919 The Year That Changed America" by Martin W. Sandler
Both producers posted a sharp increase in third-quarter earnings as their oil refining units benefitted from a spike in fuel prices related to war-related disruptions in Middle East and Russian exports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026
In speeches at the event Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s governor, and Corey O’Connor, Pittsburgh’s mayor, both spoke of the ways developments from CMU have historically benefitted the city and state.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026
Archer benefitted from two miscues from mid-on, then came back to eventually end the Ali-Abbas last-wicket stand.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
Bitcoin has, along with gold and silver, also benefitted from the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
Like most things in the Night Zoo, the terms and conditions held by its indentured workers only benefitted one person.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
Stanford researchers concluded last year that this reform and a similar one in Utah have spurred innovation in legal services, with consumers benefitting and lawyers remaining central to the ABS entities.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
A health board is continuing to pay money to a university research centre several months after a critical report which said the payments were not directly benefitting patients.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
Accelerating demand for traditional and AI servers, as well as storage and networking equipment, is benefitting both Dell and HPE, Mulberry said in emailed comments.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Meanwhile, groups such as his are benefitting from the government brain drain.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
“I suppose,” observes a fourth, “this is what Maddis calls benefitting his country.”
From English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth Century. How they Illustrated and Interpreted their Times. by Graham Everitt
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