noun · verb · 6 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.
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈwɛlˌfɛə/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
General-American:/ˈwɛlˌfɛɚ/
CMU ARPABET:W EH1 L F EH2 R
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
Health, safety, happiness and prosperity; well-being in any respect.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
Shortened form of "welfare spending", "welfare payments", or "welfare assistance".
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, informal, uncountable, usually
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: welfare assistance, income support, public assistance, social security
Antonyms: none provided
3
verb
Meaning 3
To provide with welfare or aid.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: transitive
Examples
welfaring the poor
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
governmental provision of economic assistance to persons in need
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
she lives on welfare
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: social welfare, public assistance
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: aid, economic aid, financial aid
Narrower terms: social insurance, relief, dole, pogy, pogey
5
noun
Meaning 5
something that aids or promotes well-being
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
for the benefit of all
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: benefit
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: good, goodness
Narrower terms: advantage, reward, sake, interest
6
noun
Meaning 6
a contented state of being happy and healthy and prosperous
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the town was finally on the upbeat after our recent troubles
From Middle English welefare, probably from the Old English phrase wel faran (“to fare well, get along successfully, prosper”) (cognate with Middle Dutch welvare (“welfare”), Middle Low German wolvare (“welfare”), Middle High German wolvar, wolfar (“welfare”)). Equivalent to well + fare. Compare also West Frisian wolfeart, Dutch welvaart, German Wohlfahrt, Old Norse velferð (whence Swedish välfärd (“welfare”)). The first recorded use in the sense of "social concern for the well-being of children, the unemployed, etc." is from 1904 and in the sense of "organized effort to provide for maintenance of members of a group" from 1918.
Across languages
Translations
98 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Arabic:
رَفَاهَة
(rafāha)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Arabic:
خَيْر
(ḵayr)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Belarusian:
дабрабы́т
(dabrabýt)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Belarusian:
шча́сце
(ščáscje)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Bulgarian:
благополу́чие
(blagopolúčie)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Bulgarian:
благоде́нствие
(blagodénstvie)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Catalan:
benestar
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Chinese Mandarin:
福利
(fúlì)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Chinese Mandarin:
幸福
(xìngfú)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Chinese Mandarin:
康樂 /康乐
(kānglè)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Czech:
blaho
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Czech:
blahobyt
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Danish:
lykke
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Danish:
velfærd
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Dutch:
welzijn
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Esperanto:
bonstato
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Esperanto:
bonfarto
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Finnish:
hyvinvointi
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
French:
bien-être m|
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Galician:
benestar
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
German:
Wohlergehen
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
German:
Wohlfahrt
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Greek:
ευημερία
(evimería)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hebrew:
רְוָחָה
(r'vaẖá)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hindi:
कल्याण
(kalyāṇ)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hindi:
कौशल
(kauśal)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hindi:
ख़ैर
(xair)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hungarian:
jólét
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Hungarian:
boldogulás
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Indonesian:
kesejahteraan
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Japanese:
幸せ
(shiawase)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Japanese:
幸福
(kōfuku)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Japanese:
福祉
(fukushi)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Korean:
행복
(haengbok)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Korean:
복지
(bokji)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Latvian:
labklājība
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Macedonian:
благосостојба
(blagosostojba)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Malay:
کباجيقن
(kebajikan)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Malayalam:
ക്ഷേമം
(kṣēmaṁ)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Māori:
tokoora
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Norwegian Bokmål:
velferd
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Norwegian Nynorsk:
velferd
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Persian:
رفاه
(refâh)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Plautdietsch:
Heil
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Pohnpeian:
kamwahu
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Polish:
dobrobyt
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Portuguese:
bem-estar
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Russian:
благосостоя́ние
(blagosostojánije)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Russian:
благополу́чие
(blagopolúčije)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Russian:
сча́стье
(sčástʹje)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Slovak:
blaho
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Slovak:
blahobyt
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Slovene:
blaginja
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Spanish:
bienestar
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Swedish:
välfärd
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Tagalog:
kagalingan
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Telugu:
సంక్షేమము
(saṅkṣēmamu)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Thai:
สวัสดิภาพ
(sà-wàt-dì-pâap)
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Turkish:
refah
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity
Turkish:
gönenç
— health, safety, well-being, happiness and prosperity