privileged
- belonging to a class that enjoys special privileges; favored: the privileged few.
- entitled to or exercising a privilege.
- restricted to a select group or individual: privileged information; a privileged position.
- Law. (of utterances or communications)
- not rendering the person making them liable to prosecution for libel or slander, in view of the attendant circumstances.
- not requiring any testimony concerning them to be presented in court.
- Navigation. (of a vessel) having the right of way.
Origin of privileged
privilege
- a right, immunity, or benefit enjoyed only by a person beyond the advantages of most: the privileges of the very rich.
- a special right, immunity, or exemption granted to persons in authority or office to free them from certain obligations or liabilities: the privilege of a senator to speak in Congress without danger of a libel suit.
- a grant to an individual, corporation, etc., of a special right or immunity, under certain conditions.
- the principle or condition of enjoying special rights or immunities.
- any of the rights common to all citizens under a modern constitutional government: We enjoy the privileges of a free people.
- an advantage or source of pleasure granted to a person: It's my privilege to be here.
- Stock Exchange. an option to buy or sell stock at a stipulated price for a limited period of time, including puts, calls, spreads, and straddles.
- to grant a privilege to.
- to exempt (usually followed by from).
- to authorize or license (something otherwise forbidden).
Origin of privilege
Synonyms for privilege
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comRelated Words for privileged
honored, powerful, empowered, ruling, advantaged, indulged, entitled, okay, sanctioned, granted, furnished, free, licensed, qualified, authorized, vested, okayed, chartered, special, eligibleExamples from the Web for privileged
Contemporary Examples of privileged
These posts are still available in archives that are only viewable to privileged members of the forum.
Privileged children tend to live in higher-performing school districts.
I still miss my friend, a girl from a privileged white family that had a multi-generation history in a sorority at USC.
Maybe at one point I would have envied these students who grew up in privileged families so often laden with trust funds.
I am one who will march for life and will continue to stand up in defense of life as long as I am privileged to be in office.
Historical Examples of privileged
I have been privileged to take them home and arrange them in my room and Dana's.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
The mountain tops are only noble because from them we are privileged to behold the plains.
Alarms and DiscursionsG. K. Chesterton
But what the privileged orders can no longer prevent, they are determined to stultify.
ScaramoucheRafael Sabatini
A million of its inhabitants are members of the privileged classes.
ScaramoucheRafael Sabatini
My sex, you may have heard, is privileged to change of mind.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second SeriesRafael Sabatini
privileged
- enjoying or granted as a privilege or privileges
- law
- not actionable as a libel or slander
- (of a communication, document, etc) that a witness cannot be compelled to divulge
- nautical (of a vessel) having the right of way
privilege
- a benefit, immunity, etc, granted under certain conditions
- the advantages and immunities enjoyed by a small usually powerful group or class, esp to the disadvantage of othersone of the obstacles to social harmony is privilege
- any of the fundamental rights guaranteed to the citizens of a country by its constitution
- the right of a lawyer to refuse to divulge information obtained in confidence from a client
- the right claimed by any of certain other functionaries to refuse to divulge informationexecutive privilege
- the rights and immunities enjoyed by members of most legislative bodies, such as freedom of speech, freedom from arrest in civil cases during a session, etc
- US stock exchange a speculative contract permitting its purchaser to make optional purchases or sales of securities at a specified time over a limited period of timeSee also call (def. 61), put (def. 20), spread (def. 24c), straddle (def. 9)
- to bestow a privilege or privileges upon
- (foll by from) to free or exempt
Word Origin for privilege
Word Origin and History for privileged
late 14c. of things; mid-15c. of persons, past participle adjective from privilege (v.).
privilege
mid-12c. "grant, commission" (recorded earlier in Old English, but as a Latin word), from Old French privilege "right, priority, privilege" (12c.) and directly from Latin privilegium "law applying to one person, bill of law in favor of or against an individual," later "privilege," from privus "individual" (see private (adj.)) + lex (genitive legis) "law" (see legal (adj.)). Meaning "advantage granted" is from mid-14c. in English.
privilege
early 14c., privilegen, "to invest with a privilege," from privilege (n.) and from Old French privilegier (13c.), from Medieval Latin privilegare, from Latin privilegium. Related: Privileged; priviledging.