charitable
Americanadjective
-
generous in donations or gifts to relieve the needs of indigent, ill, or helpless people, or of animals.
a charitable man giving much money to feed people experiencing food insecurity.
- Synonyms:
- benevolent, bountiful, liberal, beneficent
- Antonyms:
- selfish
-
kindly or lenient in judging people, acts, etc..
charitable in his opinions of others.
- Synonyms:
- mild, considerate, broad-minded, merciful, lenient
- Antonyms:
- intolerant, severe
-
relating to or concerned with charity.
a charitable institution.
adjective
-
generous in giving to the needy
-
kind or lenient in one's attitude towards others
-
concerned with or involving charity
Related Words
See generous.
Other Word Forms
- charitableness noun
- charitably adverb
- noncharitable adjective
- noncharitableness noun
- noncharitably adverb
- overcharitable adjective
- overcharitableness noun
- overcharitably adverb
- pseudocharitable adjective
- pseudocharitably adverb
- quasi-charitable adjective
- quasi-charitably adverb
Etymology
Origin of charitable
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Old French, equivalent to charit(e) charity + -able -able
Explanation
Something that's charitable has to do with helping people who need assistance. A charitable act might include volunteering at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter. A charitable donation is money you give to an organization that helps needy people — and the organization itself is also charitable. You can also use the word to describe, more generally, someone who's kind and generous, or the quality of giving people the benefit of the doubt: "He always had such a charitable opinions of me." Charitable comes from charity, from the Old French charité, "mercy or compassion."
Vocabulary lists containing charitable
Giving Words
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Positive Words to Describe a Person
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You're Too Kind! Synonyms for "Generous"
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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.
The Internal Revenue Service allows the donor to write off a donation to a charitable organization — in this case, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026
People itemize charitable gifts if their total allowable itemized deductions — including donations to qualified charities, mortgage interest, and state and local taxes — exceed the standard deduction.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 11, 2026
He serves as Founder and CEO of TGR, a multibrand enterprise that includes a charitable foundation, a golf course design company, an events production company and an upscale restaurant, among other holdings.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 8, 2026
“I don’t know if the public understands the scale at which charitable gaming is occurring in the state,” said Sean Cleary, a Republican state senator in North Dakota.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 7, 2026
“Ah! a charitable concern. How long were you there?”
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
