as in contribution
a gift of money or its equivalent to a charity, humanitarian cause, or public institution
the generous benefaction from an anonymous donor meant the animal shelter could stay open
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Recent Examples of benefaction
The benefaction of these private nonprofits eventually came to exceed, by a substantial margin, the money dispensed by the government, which has declined over time.
—
Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026
The evening ended with the iconic funk band The Bar-Kays bringing everyone to the dance floor for a boogie to celebrate a night of benefaction.
—Shelby Stewart, Essence, 5 Mar. 2024
Clear thinking, unvarnished assessments, and reference to those timeless lessons: These are the benefactions that National Review Institute brings to the public square.
—Peter J. Travers, National Review, 30 Dec. 2023
All the same, today Alaska’s on-a-bun benefaction is a dog made with lean, delicately gamy reindeer.
—J. J. Goode, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2023
But the full scale of Crow’s benefactions has never been revealed.
—Propublica, Dallas News, 6 Apr. 2023
But the full scale of Crow’s benefactions has never been revealed.
—Joshua Kaplan, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2023
Its grand eighteenth-century buildings were dominated by the huge Codrington Library, named after the West Indian slave owner whose benefaction enriched his old college.
—Fara Dabhoiwala, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021
Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 12 Feb. 2026
The evening ended with the iconic funk band The Bar-Kays bringing everyone to the dance floor for a boogie to celebrate a night of benefaction.
—Shelby Stewart, Essence, 5 Mar. 2024
Clear thinking, unvarnished assessments, and reference to those timeless lessons: These are the benefactions that National Review Institute brings to the public square.
—Peter J. Travers, National Review, 30 Dec. 2023
All the same, today Alaska’s on-a-bun benefaction is a dog made with lean, delicately gamy reindeer.
—J. J. Goode, New York Times, 14 Aug. 2023
But the full scale of Crow’s benefactions has never been revealed.
—Propublica, Dallas News, 6 Apr. 2023
But the full scale of Crow’s benefactions has never been revealed.
—Joshua Kaplan, Fortune, 6 Apr. 2023
Its grand eighteenth-century buildings were dominated by the huge Codrington Library, named after the West Indian slave owner whose benefaction enriched his old college.
—Fara Dabhoiwala, The New York Review of Books, 1 July 2021
Recent Examples of Synonyms for benefaction
Noun
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Though OpenAI was making progress on research and development, Musk had demanded that Altman and other co-founders, including Brockman and Ilya Sutskever, make a list of employees and their key contributions, and fire everyone who didn't immediately make the grade, filings show.—
Ashley Capoot,Lora Kolodny,
CNBC,
18 May 2026
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Because those contributions are deducted at the 37% rate, the IRS subsidizes another $8,510.—
Teresa Ghilarducci,
Boston Herald,
18 May 2026
Noun
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Warm 75-degree weather and Lizzo were saving graces at the 32nd amfAR gala by the Hotel Du Cap Eden Roc ocean in a luxe-auction Thursday night that racked up a massive $20 million, with donations up 18% from last year for the AIDS research organization.—
Anthony D'Alessandro,
Deadline,
22 May 2026
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His campaign reported more than $671,000 in unitemized contributions of less than $100 each since April 19, versus less than $24,000 for Raman and less than $2,900 of the small donations for Bass.—
Connor Sheets,
Los Angeles Times,
22 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Benefaction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/benefaction. Accessed 23 May. 2026.
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