redeeming

American  

[ri-dee-ming] / rɪˈdi mɪŋ /

adjective

1. offsetting or counterbalancing some fault, defect, or the like.

   a redeeming quality.

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redeeming British  

/ rɪˈdiːmɪŋ /

adjective

1. serving to compensate for faults or deficiencies in quality, etc

   one redeeming feature

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unredeeming
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of redeeming

First recorded in 1745–55; redeem + -ing ²

Explanation

A redeeming characteristic is one that counteracts or corrects something negative. If you can only think of one good thing about your next door neighbor, for example, that one thing is her redeeming quality. Your grandpa may be a difficult person who constantly criticizes you and complains about life. If, however, he makes the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever tasted, you can say that cookie baking is his redeeming quality. And if your dog is truly odd-looking, not cute at all except for her long ears, those ears are her one redeeming physical trait — they're the positive thing that balances out all the negatives.

Example Sentences

Once Social Security’s benefit payments exceed payroll-tax revenue — an issue that is now worrying lawmakers, workers and retirees — the Social Security Administration starts redeeming those bonds.

From MarketWatch • May 2, 2026

The character doesn’t need any redeeming qualities for this particular film to remain entertaining.

From Salon • Apr. 5, 2026

But it doesn’t take much to detect the pride he has in his son, whose work may not reliably pay the bills but has brought public recognition and a sense of redeeming purpose.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 28, 2026

Tolkien, a scholar of Old English, studied the “theory of courage” found in poems such as the ancient epic “Beowulf,” redeeming what he called the “noble northern spirit” from the fascists who would pervert it.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 22, 2026

Sometimes, I think everything he did, feeding the poor on the streets, building the orphanage, giving money to friends in need, it was all his way of redeeming himself.

From "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini