rewarding
Americanadjective
-
affording satisfaction, valuable experience, or the like; worthwhile.
-
affording financial or material gain; profitable.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rewarding
Explanation
Things that satisfy you or make you happy are rewarding. Even if you love to learn, the most rewarding part of going to school for many of us is making good friends. The word reward is obvious when you look at the adjective rewarding, and rewarding things do give you a kind of reward. Rather than cash for finding a neighbor's lost cat, though, the reward you get from something rewarding is pleasure or satisfaction. Watching a great movie is rewarding, and so is doing something kind for another person. You might even get lucky and have a rewarding career, or even a rewarding life.
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.
I don’t find it rewarding, and, realistically, I’m never going to make enough money for the stress and responsibility to meaningfully change my life.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
For Sonnenshine, who was in the middle of working on Season 2, the reality of making the series has been even more rewarding than what she dreamt of as a child.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Filippenko added, "To see a clear effect of Einstein's general theory of relativity is always exciting, but seeing it for the first time in a supernova is especially rewarding."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 6, 2026
Litt, who has disclosed a short position in Welltower, said in a report that the compensation plan encourages “growth for growth’s sake” by rewarding executives for expanding the company’s market value through acquisitions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
His assistant, Monica, is nodding gigantically like she’s rewarding a particularly feeble dog.
From "Better Nate Than Ever" by Tim Federle
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.
