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When you are acquisitive, you are driven to pursue and own wealth and possessions—often in a greedy fashion.
An affable person is pleasant, friendly, and easy to talk to.
If your behavior or manner is altruistic, you show you care more about other people and their interests than you care about yourself.
Avarice is the extremely strong desire to have a lot of money and possessions.
A benefaction is a charitable contribution of money or assistance that someone gives to a person or organization.
If you describe someone as benign, they are kind, gentle, and harmless.
Bigotry is the expression of strong and unreasonable opinions without accepting or tolerating opposing views.
Bonhomie is a friendly feeling among a group of people.
A cavalier person does not seem to care about rules, principles, or other people’s feelings, no matter how dire or serious a situation may be.
A chivalrous man behaves in a polite, kind, generous, and honorable way, especially towards women.
Someone who is churlish is impolite and unfriendly, especially towards another who has done nothing to deserve ill-treatment.
If someone is complaisant, they are willing to please others and do what they want without complaining.
A congenial person, place, or environment is pleasant, friendly, and enjoyable.
If you covet something that someone else has, you have a strong desire to have it for yourself.
A demagogue is someone, usually a political leader, who tries to influence people by making emotional speeches rather than using reasonable arguments.
Depravity is behavior that is immoral, corrupt, or evil.
Draconian rules and laws are extremely strict and harsh.
If you refer to the enormity of a situation, problem, or event, you mean that it is very evil or morally offensive; this word has nothing to do with physical size.
A humanitarian is one who cares deeply and does something about the welfare of human beings.
An infamous person has a very bad reputation because they have done disgraceful or dishonorable things.
Iniquity is an immoral act, wickedness, or evil.
Someone who is jaded is bored with or weary of the world because they have had too much experience with it.
Largess is the generous act of giving money or presents to a large number of people.
If you describe someone as Machiavellian, you disapprove of him because he uses clever tricks and other dishonest methods to achieve his aims, especially in politics.
If someone exhibits magnanimity towards another, they show them kindness and noble generosity, especially after defeating them in battle or after having been treated badly by them.
Something or someone that is maleficent deliberately tries to cause harm or evil.
A mercenary person is one whose sole interest is in earning money.
A misanthrope is someone who hates and mistrusts people.
A misogynist is someone who hates women or is highly critical about the female gender.
A munificent person is extremely generous, especially with money.
Narcissism is the habit of always thinking about yourself and constantly admiring your own appearance or qualities.
A notorious person is well-known by the public at large; they are usually famous for doing something bad.
If you say that you’ve received a pittance, you mean that you received a small amount of something—and you know that you deserved more.
When you plunder, you forcefully take or rob others of their possessions, usually during times of war, natural disaster, or other unrest.
To ransack a place is to thoroughly loot or rob items from it; it can also mean to look through something thoroughly by examining every bit of it.
If you describe a person’s behavior as rapacious, you disapprove of them because they always want more money, goods, or possessions than they really need.
When someone stints, they are not generous; rather, they withhold support or the providing of something that another person needs.
A troglodyte also refers to prehistoric peoples who once lived in caves.
A truculent person is bad-tempered, easily annoyed, and prone to arguing excessively.
Someone who is venal is dishonest, corrupt, and ready to do anything for money.
Noun
philanthropy
fi-LAN-thruh-pee
Context
Bob’s philanthropy was so helpful to our city: his donation of millions of dollars changed everything about the city for the better. His philanthropic and charitable contributions were intended to help the city come alive again. His philanthropy included gifts which allowed buildings to be repaired, streets to be repaved, and utilities to be upgraded. Most importantly, his philanthropy provided funding for housing resident artists who would provide opportunities in dance, theater, and the visual arts.
Quiz:Try again!
If you are known for your philanthropy, what might you do?
Philanthropy is unselfish support in the form of donating money, work, or gifts to positive social purposes; philanthropy is also overall love for humans in general.
Fill a Trophy When United Way gave the trophy to the biggest contributing philanthropist, they filled it with coins.
Examples
If charity cost nothing, the world would be full of philanthropists.
— Jewish Proverb
The Absolut Angel competition bills itself as 'venture philanthropy' — a young but growing trend that’s especially welcome at a time when government dollars from the National Endowment for the Arts have dried up.
—
Wired
David Rockefeller was said to have been a host, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Oprah Winfrey to have been among those attending, and philanthropy to have been the main subject.
—
CNN
'In the opinion of the foundation’s trustees,' he said, 'private and corporate philanthropy can make no better investment than in helping American education at its base — the quality of its teaching.
—
TIME
Philanthropy is the “activity of loving the human” race by being very generous to those in need.
Word Theater
Billionaires Contribute to Charity These philanthropic billionaires are giving away half of their fortunes.
The panel shows a small video clip of either the word in actual use or a scene that represents the meaning of a word. This not only breaks up the monotony of studying words but also provides another avenue to strengthen word meaning. Enjoy!
