entitlement

American  

[en-tahy-tl-muhnt] / ɛnˈtaɪ tl mənt /

noun

• entitlements
  plural

1. the act of giving, or the state of having, a title, right, or claim to something.

   She supported legislation to improve the lot of the elderly, including the entitlement of senior citizens to vote by absentee ballot.

2. a provision, amount, etc., to which one is entitled; a right.

   A good education is the moral entitlement of every child.

   Temporary teachers receive most of the entitlements of permanent teachers, including annual salary, on a prorated basis.

3. a government program, such as Social Security or unemployment insurance, that provides a benefit to eligible participants, or the benefit provided by such a program.

   Eligibility for this insurance program will be affected if there is also a Medicare entitlement.

4. the unjustified assumption that one has a right to certain advantages, preferential treatment, etc..

   "Their sense of entitlement—I don't want to call it arrogance—makes dealing with some people difficult,'' said the senator.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• entitlements
  plural

Etymology

Origin of entitlement

First recorded in 1825–35; entitle + -ment

Explanation

An entitlement is the right to a particular privilege or benefit, granted by law or custom. You have a legal entitlement to speak to a lawyer if you're ever arrested and put in jail. Your entitlement program at work might offer various benefits, or you might receive a medical entitlement once you reach a certain age. These are just basic things you get. More recently, entitlement has taken on a critical sense. If someone has a sense of entitlement, that means the person believes he deserves certain privileges — and he's arrogant about it. The term "culture of entitlement" suggests that many people now have highly unreasonable expectations about what they are entitled to.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

entitlement entitlements

Hence the report’s nod to the need for change, though it doesn’t propose reforms that would break the campus culture of conformity and entitlement.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

Losing track of pension pots from previous jobs, and concerns about how career breaks might affect their entitlement, were also frequent responses.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2026

It’s the country’s largest entitlement program and the single largest line item in the federal budget.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026

Breaking that link would “fundamentally change the nature of the program,” said Romina Boccia, director of budget and entitlement policy at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 14, 2026

That’s entitlement: his mother permits that casual incivility because she wants him to learn to assert himself with people in positions of authority.

From "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell

BBC Scotland News understands those who choose to leave the firm will receive £10,000 on top of their statutory redundancy entitlements.

From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026

Clubs losing youngsters can receive training compensation alongside future appearance-related payments and sell-on entitlements, while unresolved cases can be referred to the Professional Football Compensation Committee.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

The unusual feature here, unique among entitlements in the world’s major economies, is that Congress is required to try.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

More than half of the calls have been about pay and other contractual entitlements while in the war zone.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 5, 2026

One old man named Halloran—a man of Hibernian entitlements and discretions, explained it to me.

From Cabbages and Kings by O. Henry

Related Words

• advantage
• allowance
• authority
• authorization
• benefit
• concession
• due
• exemption
• freedom
• immunity
• license
• opportunity
• prerogative
• right