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.
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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
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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.
This preserves combinations of traits that are already beneficial, allowing evolution to proceed more efficiently.
From Science Daily
"Their chemistry is very different in a way that can be beneficial for creating devices we couldn't build before."
From Science Daily
"Vigorous activity may not be safe for everyone, especially older adults or people with certain medical conditions. For them, any increase in movement is still beneficial, and activity should be tailored to the individual."
From Science Daily
Some acts that announce residencies have taken pre-emptive steps to emphasize that the additional travel will be beneficial.
“There’s obviously a whole range of things that AI can be applied to, and some are incredibly societally beneficial,” he said.
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.
