beneficial
Americanadjective
-
conferring benefit; advantageous; helpful.
the beneficial effect of sunshine.
- Synonyms:
- profitable, favorable, useful, serviceable, wholesome, salutary
- Antonyms:
- harmful
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Law.
-
helpful in the meeting of needs.
a beneficial association.
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involving the personal enjoyment of proceeds.
a beneficial owner.
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adjective
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(sometimes foll by to) causing a good result; advantageous
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law entitling a person to receive the profits or proceeds of property
a beneficial interest in land
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of beneficial
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Late Latin beneficiālis, equivalent to Latin benefici(um) “kindness” ( see benefice ( def. )) + -ālis -al 1 ( def. )
Explanation
If it's beneficial, then it's good for you — or for something. Studying is beneficial to your grades. Exercise is beneficial to your health. Spend any time with Italians and you will hear the word bene over and over. It comes straight from Latin, and Italians use it as often as we use "good;" it can mean "fine," "okay," "yummy," or "kind and well behaved." Bene gives us beneficial, but also benefit, beneficent, benevolent and more well-meaning words.
Vocabulary lists containing beneficial
List 2
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Take the Bad with the Good: Bene and Mal
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Academic Vocabulary Toolkit 1, Words 11-20
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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.
In mice, a combination of polyphenols and polysaccharides from white mulberry fruit produced greater beneficial changes in the microbiota than either fraction alone.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
Also becoming eligible for the Braves is sophomore defensive back Kingston Fatu, a transfer from Tustin who should be beneficial for a secondary that has given up big plays this season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
Yet the urgency of this moment is prompting beneficial changes in tandem at a pace commensurate with the technological transformation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 20, 2026
For optometrist Geoff McConville, who stocks Meta glasses in his Belfast shop, there are concerns about their "inappropriate use", but there are also beneficial aspects to the technology.
From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026
Whatever may have happened in his developing brain, it proved beneficial to his metabolism: from that two and a half days he gained an iron health.
From "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck
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.
