reward
Americannoun
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rewards
plural
verb (used with object)
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rewards,
present (3rd person singular)
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rewarded,
past participle, past
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rewarding
present participle
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to recompense or requite (a person or animal) for service, merit, achievement, etc.
- Synonyms:
- remunerate, pay, compensate
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to make return for or requite (service, merit, etc.); recompense.
noun
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something given or received in return for a deed or service rendered
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a sum of money offered, esp for help in finding a criminal or for the return of lost or stolen property
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profit or return
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something received in return for good or evil; deserts
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psychol any pleasant event that follows a response and therefore increases the likelihood of the response recurring in the future
verb
Synonym Usage
Reward, prize, recompense imply something given in return for good. A reward is something given or done in return for good (or, more rarely, evil) received; it may refer to something abstract or concrete: a $50 reward; Virtue is its own reward. Prize refers to something concrete offered as a reward of merit, or to be contested for and given to the winner: to win a prize for an essay. A recompense is something given or done, whether as reward or punishment, for acts performed, services rendered, etc.; or it may be something given in compensation for loss or injury suffered, etc.: Renown was his principal recompense for years of hard work.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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rewardablenessnoun
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rewardernoun
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overrewardverb
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misrewardverb (used with object)
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superrewardverb (used with object)
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rewardableadjective
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rewardlessadjective
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unrewardableadjective
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unrewardedadjective
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well-rewardedadjective
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rewardablyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rewardsimple
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rewardssimple
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have rewardedperfect
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has rewardedperfect
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am rewardingprogressive
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are rewardingprogressive
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is rewardingprogressive
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have been rewardingperfect progressive
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has been rewardingperfect progressive
Past
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rewardedsimple
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had rewardedperfect
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was rewardingprogressive
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were rewardingprogressive
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had been rewardingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reward
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English (verb) rewarden originally, “to regard,” from Old North French rewarder “to look at,” variant of Old French reguarder; see origin at regard
Explanation
A reward is something you get for a job well done. If you study hard for that vocabulary test, an "A" might be the reward in your future. You can use reward as a verb, as when the mayor rewards a firefighter who saves a family from a terrible blaze, or as a noun, to talk about the actual payment or item that's given to the firefighter. People often offer a reward for the return of lost or stolen things, like bicycles or jewelry or dogs. Reward meant "a regarding" or "an observation" in the 1300's, but it soon came to mean "repayment for some service."
Vocabulary lists containing reward
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.
See Examples For:
Fame is a bedfellow of the newer, more modern American dream, which promises not only contentment, but success, as a reward for ambition, ravaging the lifestyles of millions of people in the process.
From Salon ● Aug. 18, 2026
The reward, for him, was in the doing, in taking a daydream and forming it into an idea that he could shape into something real in the world, blending the mundane and the macabre.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
“The fashion industry, fashion consumers, always reward novelty.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026
The central question is whether a reward is “economically or functionally equivalent” to interest on a bank deposit, a test the bill never defines.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026
When I heard Grandpa mention that hundred dollar reward, I lost my breath completely.
From "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls
The crew’s performance on the ride can translate into in-game rewards if riders’ accounts are linked.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
Jewellery, cash or first cars: Do rewards boost exam grades?
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026
Key research has recently shown the lateral septum also contains place cells, but these cells strongly respond to rewards.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
It isn’t only functionally efficient but morally proper that rewards for talent, hard work, risk-taking and luck are distributed proportionately to those who possess them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
We’ll never know what those pathetic rewards will be.
From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed
Chinese companies and jurisdictions that meet those standards should be rewarded with preferential treatment in the U.S. market.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026
In a world free of geopolitics, "the Manus story would be a simple story of an incredible AI startup getting rewarded with a big exit", Kyle Chan from the Brookings Institution told AFP.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Devour some books … and pizza: Pizza Hut’s Book It! program, which rewarded children for reading with personal pan pizzas, is part of the lore of countless childhood readers turned adults.
From Slate ● Aug. 10, 2026
A few months later, the academy graduate was rewarded with a new five-year contract.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2026
In theory, goods are shared according to the level of contribution people make to a society, which means that hard work gets rewarded.
From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein
Moving the rock through finer and finer grits is time-consuming, strenuous and not always rewarding.
From Salon ● Aug. 6, 2026
“I got the sense that there was a culture that wasn’t rewarding performance. It was rewarding just showing up,” said Seigerman, the BMO Capital analyst.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
The key is leaders in each school district setting high standards and expectations, and then holding teachers accountable to those, while rewarding the best teachers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
But for the researchers involved, the experience is extremely rewarding.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
This day is unimaginably rewarding and still so, so impossible.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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.
