| / English Dictionary |
GENEROUS
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
More than is usual or necessary
Example:
a generous portion
Classified under:
Similar:
ample (more than enough in size or scope or capacity)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Willing to give and share unstintingly
Example:
a generous donation
Classified under:
Similar:
benevolent; freehearted (generous in providing aid to others)
big; bighearted; bounteous; bountiful; freehanded; giving; handsome; liberal; openhanded (given or giving freely)
lavish; munificent; overgenerous; too-generous; unsparing; unstinted; unstinting (very generous)
unselfish (not greedy)
Also:
charitable (full of love and generosity)
generous (not petty in character and mind)
unselfish (disregarding your own advantages and welfare over those of others)
Attribute:
generosity; generousness (the trait of being willing to give your money or time)
Antonym:
stingy (unwilling to spend (money, time, resources, etc.))
Derivation:
generosity (acting generously)
generousness (the trait of being willing to give your money or time)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not petty in character and mind
Example:
unusually generous in his judgment of people
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
big; large; magnanimous (generous and understanding and tolerant)
ungrudging (without envy or reluctance)
Also:
generous (willing to give and share unstintingly)
Antonym:
ungenerous (lacking in magnanimity)
Derivation:
generosity; generousness (the trait of being willing to give your money or time)
Context examples:
“Noble and generous prince!” cried the little monarch.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
He is generous to those who have no claim upon him, but he has ruined his tradesmen by refusing to pay his just debts.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
‘No, I cannot!’ I answered sharply. ‘I have been far too generous with you in money matters.’
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She could not finish the generous effusion.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
I took leave of my noble protector, who had shown me so much favour, and made me a generous present at my departure.
(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)
And now to chuse the mortification of Mrs. Elton's notice and the penury of her conversation, rather than return to the superior companions who have always loved her with such real, generous affection.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
When the man brought him water he drank eagerly, and later bolted a generous meal of raw meat, chunk by chunk, from the man’s hand.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
Skiff Miller shook his head, no longer belligerent, but kindly, quick to be generous in response to generousness.
(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)
Oh! My sweet Catherine, in your generous heart I know it would signify nothing; but we must not expect such disinterestedness in many.
(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)
That part of me which I had the power of projecting, had lately been much exercised and nourished; it had seemed to me of late as though the body of Edward Hyde had grown in stature, as though (when I wore that form) I were conscious of a more generous tide of blood; and I began to spy a danger that, if this were much prolonged, the balance of my nature might be permanently overthrown, the power of voluntary change be forfeited, and the character of Edward Hyde become irrevocably mine.
(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
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