rewarding
Americanadjective
-
affording satisfaction, valuable experience, or the like; worthwhile.
-
affording financial or material gain; profitable.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived 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.
You are rewarding bad financial habits by taking money from your own retirement.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 3, 2026
But when you have a microclimate kind of culture feeding in toxic behavior and rewarding toxic behavior over and over again, it breeds it.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2026
Social media companies should do more to combat this kind of misinformation, including "amending their algorithms to make sure they're not rewarding poison and division" and labelling AI content clearly, Sir Sadiq said.
From BBC • May 15, 2026
The stock market is rewarding companies that seek out secular growth opportunities and don’t just rely on financial engineering to drive shareholder returns.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 11, 2026
“Well, then, now is the exact time for her to get in the water. Otherwise she’ll never do it. You’re just rewarding her fear. What are you thinking?”
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
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.
