Phrase guide

social welfare

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

noun

Meaning 1

The provision of a minimal level of well-being and support for citizens and other eligible residents who lack current means to support basic needs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • she lives on welfare

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: welfare, public assistance

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: aid, economic aid, financial aid

Narrower terms: social insurance, relief, dole, pogy, pogey

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Chinese Mandarin: 社會福利 /社会福利 (shèhuì fúlì) — provision of support
  • Finnish: sosiaaliturva — provision of support
  • Hungarian: szociális segély — provision of support
  • Indonesian: kesejahteraan sosial — provision of support
  • Malay: kebajikan masyarakat — provision of support
  • Malayalam: സാമൂഹ്യക്ഷേമം (sāmūhyakṣēmaṁ) — provision of support
  • Polish: zasiłek — provision of support
  • Portuguese: seguridade social — provision of support
  • Portuguese: segurança social — provision of support
  • Tagalog: kagalingang panlipunan — provision of support