largesse
Americannoun
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generous bestowal of gifts.
Corporate sponsors can keep entire festivals and arenas alive with their largesse, so they need to be strategic about their giving.
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a generous gift or gifts, such as of money.
With the largesse received from these donors, the hospital has been able to purchase two new MRI machines.
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generosity; liberality.
He's a man of remarkable largesse of mind, heart, and soul.
noun
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the generous bestowal of gifts, favours, or money
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the things so bestowed
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generosity of spirit or attitude
Etymology
Origin of largesse
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English largesse, from Old French; cf. large, -ice
Explanation
Largesse is extreme generosity. If your neighbors bring you an expensive watch from Switzerland because you fed their cat while they were traveling, thank them for their largesse. Though pronounced "lar JESS," the word largesse looks sort of like largeness. That's an easy way to remember what largesse means: think of it as largeness of spirit. Largesse can describe the generosity of someone giving gifts, or it can describe the gift itself. You could dispense largess by buying your brother a dinner at a fancy restaurant for helping you out.
Vocabulary lists containing largesse
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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"The Odyssey" by Homer, Books 8–13
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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.
“It’s a trade on U.S. policy largesse, an anti-fiat hedge and overall a portfolio diversifier.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026
The company benefited from the largesse of the legendary Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, multiple former Navatek executives and employees said, whose family had been close to the Loui family for generations.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
I also wonder whether it would mean more to direct your largesse towards the wait and kitchen staff rather than random customers.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026
Whichever way you look at it, men's professional golf needs backers with the deepest pockets to sustain such levels of largesse.
From BBC ● Apr. 20, 2026
“Scores,” the Director repeated and flung out his arms, as though he were distributing largesse.
From "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
