beneficial
Americanadjective
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conferring benefit; advantageous; helpful.
the beneficial effect of sunshine.
- Synonyms:
- profitable, favorable, useful, serviceable, wholesome, salutary
- Antonyms:
- harmful
-
Law.
-
helpful in the meeting of needs.
a beneficial association.
-
involving the personal enjoyment of proceeds.
a beneficial owner.
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adjective
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(sometimes foll by to) causing a good result; advantageous
-
law entitling a person to receive the profits or proceeds of property
a beneficial interest in land
Other Word Forms
- beneficially adverb
- beneficialness noun
- nonbeneficial adjective
- nonbeneficially adverb
- nonbeneficialness noun
- quasi-beneficial adjective
- quasi-beneficially adverb
- unbeneficial adjective
- unbeneficially adverb
- unbeneficialness noun
Etymology
Origin of beneficial
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English, from Late Latin beneficiālis, equivalent to Latin benefici(um) “kindness” ( benefice ( def. ) ) + -ālis -al 1 ( def. )
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.
"Their chemistry is very different in a way that can be beneficial for creating devices we couldn't build before."
From Science Daily • Mar. 31, 2026
He recognizes that terms like cure and functional cure could be applied in a carefully defined way in certain subsets of patients and be beneficial, but he’s just not ready to declare victory.
From Slate • Mar. 29, 2026
"I think restrictions on advertising apps and screen time to kids would be really beneficial," she says.
From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026
But first, a reminder that the “peace dividend” — that is, the surge of available resources for socially beneficial spending after the cessation of hostilities — has always been an elusive concept.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 25, 2026
On my affording an opportunity, through the medium of the currency of the realm, of the allaying, at a later period, this beneficial evil, one of the men remarked:—
From "Dracula" by Bram Stoker
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.
