beneficiary

American  

[ben-uh-fish-ee-er-ee, -fish-uh-ree] / ˌbɛn əˈfɪʃ iˌɛr i, -ˈfɪʃ ə ri /

noun

• beneficiaries
  plural

1. a person or group that receives benefits, profits, or advantages.

2. a person designated as the recipient of funds or other property under a will, trust, insurance policy, etc.

3. Ecclesiastical. the holder of a benefice.

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beneficiary British  

/ ˌbɛnɪˈfɪʃərɪ /

noun

1. a person who gains or benefits in some way from something

2. law a person entitled to receive funds or other property under a trust, will, or insurance policy

3. the holder of an ecclesiastical or other benefice

4. a person who receives government assistance

   social security beneficiary

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adjective

1. of or relating to a benefice or the holder of a benefice

beneficiary Cultural  

1. The recipient of funds, property, or other benefits from an insurance policy, will, trust, or other settlement.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• prebeneficiary
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• beneficiaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of beneficiary

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin beneficiārius, from benefici(um) benefice + -ārius -ary

Explanation

A beneficiary is simply the recipient of money or other benefits. So when your big sister finally moves away to college and you get to move into her bigger bedroom? You become a lucky beneficiary. In other words — if you benefit from something, you are a beneficiary. This word pops up most commonly when people are creating their wills and trusts — you have to choose beneficiaries as the people who will get what you have when you die. But it isn't always so morbid. You can be the beneficiary of someone's kindness, the beneficiary of a good education, or even the beneficiary of your own hard work.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

beneficiary beneficiaries

PCA updated Langdon’s status on the retirement account from “spouse” to “ex-spouse,” but did not remove her as the primary beneficiary.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

Sunway Construction likely a key beneficiary, with a possible 1.0 billion ringgit contract from a MRT Corp joint venture potentially adding about 60 million ringgit to net profit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026

Request your beneficiary designations in writing: Call or log in to every financial account, life-insurance policy and retirement plan.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

This catches parents off guard more often than you might expect — especially those who completed beneficiary forms early in their careers and haven’t reviewed them since.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026

In the late 1960s nonwhite Americans clamored for access to higher education, and I became a principal beneficiary of the academy’s response, its programs of affirmative action.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez

Luxshare Precision Technology, Lingyi iTech and AAC Technologies are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries, it notes, as it maintains overweight ratings on the stocks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026

As federal officials have whittled down the countries that still qualify for Temporary Protected Status, Salvadorans make up the largest population of remaining beneficiaries.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

Choose your beneficiaries: Decide who you want to leave your money and possessions to, whether that's family, friends or a charity.

From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026

Shares of Nvidia, one of the chief beneficiaries of the data-center spending boom, rose 3.2% to $224.41.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

Nor were they beneficiaries of the billions of dollars' worth of food aid that poured into North Korea.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

Related Words

• heir
• recipient