- 1(formal) (especially of people in authority) kind, helpful, and generous a benevolent smile/attitude belief in the existence of a benevolent god a benevolent dictatorship opposite malevolent
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- 2used in the names of some organizations that give help and money to people in need the Police Benevolent Association
NAmE//bəˈnɛvələns//
noun [uncountable] adverb smiling benevolentlySee benevolent in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
Check pronunciation: benevolent