beneficiary

American  

[ben-uh-fish-ee-er-ee, -fish-uh-ree] / ˌbɛn əˈfɪʃ iˌɛr i, -ˈfɪʃ ə ri /

noun

beneficiaries plural

1. a person or group that receives benefits, profits, or advantages.

2. a person designated as the recipient of funds or other property under a will, trust, insurance policy, etc.

3. Ecclesiastical. the holder of a benefice.

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beneficiary British  

/ ˌbɛnɪˈfɪʃərɪ /

noun

1. a person who gains or benefits in some way from something

2. law a person entitled to receive funds or other property under a trust, will, or insurance policy

3. the holder of an ecclesiastical or other benefice

4. a person who receives government assistance

   social security beneficiary

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adjective

1. of or relating to a benefice or the holder of a benefice

beneficiary Cultural  

1. The recipient of funds, property, or other benefits from an insurance policy, will, trust, or other settlement.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prebeneficiary
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• beneficiaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of beneficiary

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin beneficiārius, from benefici(um) benefice + -ārius -ary

Explanation

A beneficiary is simply the recipient of money or other benefits. So when your big sister finally moves away to college and you get to move into her bigger bedroom? You become a lucky beneficiary. In other words — if you benefit from something, you are a beneficiary. This word pops up most commonly when people are creating their wills and trusts — you have to choose beneficiaries as the people who will get what you have when you die. But it isn't always so morbid. You can be the beneficiary of someone's kindness, the beneficiary of a good education, or even the beneficiary of your own hard work.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beneficiary beneficiaries

You have wills, powers of attorney, healthcare directives, long-term care insurance, organized records for your executor, and mutually agreed-upon beneficiary designations.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

Asics’s sneakers have been a beneficiary of the “dad sneaker” trend, which favors chunky, mesh-paneled running sneakers from the early 2000s.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

The expansion enabled A Step to Freedom, run by chief executive Kenya Croom, to help far more people, but it also had another, less visible beneficiary: Croom herself.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026

If her goal is to eventually pass the inheritance on to her own heirs, she should also review her estate plan and make sure the beneficiary designations on her financial accounts are up to date.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 18, 2026

But he may also, to some extent, be a beneficiary of this ongoing instability.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

It is far cheaper to bet that clients of midsize banks, often in less-glitzy industries such as construction, will also be among the beneficiaries of the AI boom and need investment-banking services of their own.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

A third-party audit of L.A.’s homeless agency last year found the city wasn’t tracking how much was being spent, the number of beds or other services being provided, or outcomes for putative beneficiaries.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026

However, more than half of Medicare beneficiaries are enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans, which are private-insurance alternatives to the government program.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

The threshold would need to be lowered to approximately $1.1 million to $1.2 million, affecting nearly one-quarter of beneficiaries.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026

If Levittown was the epicenter of postwar suburban optimism, my parents were exemplars and beneficiaries of its spirit.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Related Words

• heir
• recipient