benevolence

Roget category 906

6. Words relating to the sentient and moral
› 6.3. Sympathetic affections
›› 6.3.2. Diffusive sympathetic affections

#906. Benevolence

noun

benevolence, Christian charity — God's love, God's grace — good will — philanthropy etc. 910 — unselfishness etc. 942.
good nature, good feeling, good wishes — kindness, kindliness etc. adj. — loving-kindness, benignity, brotherly love, charity, humanity, fellow-feeling, sympathy — goodness of heart, warmth of heart — bonhomie — kind-heartedness — amiability, milk of human kindness, tenderness — love etc. 897 — friendship etc. 888.
toleration, consideration, generosity — mercy etc. (pity) 914.
charitableness etc. adj. — bounty, almsgiving — good works, beneficence, the luxury of doing good" [Goldsmith]. acts of kindness, a good turn — good offices, kind offices good treatment, kind treatment.
good Samaritan, sympathizer, bon enfant [Fr.] — altruist.

verb

be benevolent etc. adj. — have one's heart in the right place, bear good will — wish well, wish Godspeed — view with an eye of favor, regard with an eye of favor — take in good part — take an interest in, feel an interest in — be interested in, feel interested in — sympathize with, empathize with, feel for — fraternize etc. (be friendly) 888.
enter into the feelings of others, do as you would be done by, meet halfway.
treat well — give comfort, smooth the bed of death — do good, do a good turn — benefit etc. (goodness) 648 — render a service, be of use — aid etc. 707.

adjective

benevolent — kind, kindly — well-meaning — amiable — obliging, accommodating, indulgent, gracious, complacent, good-humored.
warm-hearted, kind-hearted, tender-hearted, large-hearted, broad-hearted — merciful etc. 914 — charitable, beneficent, humane, benignant — bounteous, bountiful.
good-natured, well-natured — spleenless^† — sympathizing, sympathetic — complaisant etc. (courteous) 894 — well-meant, well-intentioned.
fatherly, motherly, brotherly, sisterly — paternal, maternal, fraternal — sororal^† — friendly etc. 888.

adverb

with a good intention, with the best intentions.

interjection

Godspeed!, much good may it do!,

phrase

act a charity sometimes" [Lamb]; a tender heart, a will inflexible" [Longfellow]; de mortuis nil nisi bonum [Lat.], say only good things about the dead, don't speak ill of the dead — kind words are more than coronets" [Tennyson]; quando amigo pide no hay manana [Lat.] — the social smile, the sympathetic tear" [Gray].

The content on this page comes straight from Project Gutenberg Etext of Roget's Thesaurus No. Two, which consists of the acclaimed work by Peter Mark Roget augmented with more recent material. Some changes were made to the formatting for improved readability.

Bold numbers signify related Roget categories. A dagger symbol (†) indicates archaic words and expressions no longer in common use.

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