Adjacent Words

Generous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

GEN'EROUS, a. [L. generosus. See Gender.]
1. Primarily, being of honorable birth or origin; hence, noble; honorable; magnanimous; applied to persons; as a generous foe; a generous critic.
2. Noble; honorable; applied to things; as a generous virtue; generous boldness. It is used also to denote like qualities in irrational animals; as a generous pack of hounds.
3. Liberal; bountiful; munificent; free to give; as a generous friend; a generous father.
4. Strong; full of spirit; as generous wine.
5. Full; overflowing; abundant; as a generous cup; a generous table.
6. Sprightly; courageous; as a generous steed.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: willing to give and share unstintingly; "a generous donation" [ant: stingy, ungenerous]
2: not petty in character and mind; "unusually generous in his judgment of people" [ant: meanspirited, ungenerous]
3: more than adequate; "a generous portion"

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French genereus, from Latin generosus, from gener-, genus Date: 1583 1. archaic highborn 2. a. characterized by a noble or forbearing spirit ; magnanimous, kindly b. liberal in giving ; openhanded c. marked by abundance or ample proportions ; copious <a thin salt-and-pepper moustache interrupted by a generous nose — Richard Zabel> Synonyms: see liberal • generously adverb • generousness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 giving or given freely. 2 magnanimous, noble-minded, unprejudiced. 3 a ample, abundant, copious (a generous portion). b (of wine) rich and full. Derivatives: generosity n. generously adv. generousness n. Etymology: OF genereus f. L generosus noble, magnanimous (as GENUS)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Generous Gen"er*ous, a. [F. g['e]n['e]reux, fr. L. generous of noble birth, noble, excellent, magnanimous, fr. genus birth, race: cf. It. generoso. See 2d Gender.] 1. Of honorable birth or origin; highborn. [Obs.] The generous and gravest citizens. --Shak. 2. Exhibiting those qualities which are popularly reregarded as belonging to high birth; noble; honorable; magnanimous; spirited; courageous. ``The generous critic.'' --Pope. ``His generous spouse.'' --Pope. ``A generous pack [of hounds].'' --Addison. 3. Open-handed; free to give; not close or niggardly; munificent; as, a generous friend or father. 4. Characterized by generosity; abundant; overflowing; as, a generous table. --Swift. 5. Full of spirit or strength; stimulating; exalting; as, generous wine. Syn: Magnanimous; bountiful. See Liberal. -- Gen"er*ous*ly, adv. -- Gen"er*ous*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A generous person gives more of something, especially money, than is usual or expected. German banks are more generous in their lending... The gift is generous by any standards. ? mean ADJ • generously We would like to thank all the judges who gave so generously of their time. ADV: ADV with v 2. A generous person is friendly, helpful, and willing to see the good qualities in someone or something. He was always generous in sharing his enormous knowledge... He was generous enough to congratulate his successor on his decision. ADJ • generously The students generously gave them instruction in social responsibility. ADV: ADV with v 3. A generous amount of something is much larger than is usual or necessary. ...a generous six weeks of annual holiday... He should be able to keep his room tidy with the generous amount of storage space. ADJ • generously ...a generously sized sitting room... Season the steaks generously with salt and pepper. ADV: ADV -ed, ADV after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. 1. Noble, magnanimous, honorable, high-minded. 2. Liberal, bountiful, beneficent, munificent, charitable, open-handed, free-hearted.

Moby Thesaurus

abounding, abundant, accommodating, affable, affluent, agreeable, all-sufficing, almsgiving, altruistic, amiable, ample, aplenty, beneficent, benevolent, benign, benignant, big, bighearted, blooming, bottomless, bounteous, bountiful, broad, bursting, bursting out, capacious, charitable, chivalrous, complaisant, compliant, comprehensive, conciliatory, considerate, copious, cordial, countless, creative, decent, diffuse, disinterested, effuse, eleemosynary, elevated, epidemic, exalted, exhaustless, expansive, extensive, extravagant, exuberant, fair, fat, fecund, fertile, flourishing, flush, forbearant, forbearing, forgiving, free, freehanded, freehearted, friendly, fructiferous, fruitful, full, galore, genial, giving, good, gracious, great, great of heart, greathearted, handsome, hearty, helpful, heroic, high, high-minded, honest, hospitable, humane, humanitarian, idealistic, in plenty, in quantity, indulgent, inexhaustible, kind, kindhearted, kindly, knightly, large, largehearted, lavish, lenient, liberal, lofty, long-suffering, longanimous, lush, luxuriant, magnanimous, many, maximal, much, multitudinous, munificent, neighborly, noble, noble-minded, numerous, obliging, open, open-handed, openhanded, openhearted, opulent, overflowing, overindulgent, overpermissive, patient, permissive, philanthropic, placable, plenitudinous, plenteous, plentiful, plenty, pregnant, prevailing, prevalent, princely, prodigal, productive, profuse, profusive, proliferous, prolific, rampant, receptive, replete, rich, rife, riotous, running over, seminal, spacious, sparing, stintless, sublime, superabundant, swarming, teeming, thoughtful, thriving, tolerant, tolerating, uberous, ungrudging, unprejudiced, unresentful, unrevengeful, unselfish, unsparing, unstinted, unstinting, voluminous, warm, warmhearted, wealthy, welcoming, welfare, welfare statist, welfarist, well-found, well-furnished, well-provided, well-stocked, wholesale, wide, willing