Magnanimous Meaning
/mæɡˈnæn.ɪ.məs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjNoble and generous in spirit.
Sentence Examples
Let's be magnanimous toward our rivals.
Tom was magnanimous in victory.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite being betrayed, the ____ leader offered his enemies a full pardon and resources.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The teacher was ____ enough to give the students another chance to complete their overdue assignments.
Word Origin & History
From Latin magnanimus, from magnus (“great”) + animus (“soul, mind”). Displaced native Old English miċelmōd (literally “big-minded”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"She is a theame of honour and renowne, / A ſpurre to valiant and magnanimous deeds, / Whoſe preſent courage may beate downe our foes, / And fame in time to come canonize us, […]"
— c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
"First, our friendship began at that early time when alone it is unalloyed and sincere; secondly"—and here, in spite of her vivacity, Marie's voice trembled—"you are associated with the only being in the world I ever really loved; and thirdly, I have behaved exceedingly ill to you, and, consequently, feel it quite magnanimous not to hate you, which is the established rule on such occasions."
— 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXIV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 206:
"doolittle [sad but magnanimous] They played you off very cunning, Eliza, them two sportsmen."
— 1912 (date written), [George] Bernard Shaw, “Pygmalion”, in Androcles and the Lion, Overruled, Pygmalion, London: Constable and Company, published 1916, →OCLC, Act V, page 183:
"I felt vaguely he was a sneak, and remained quite unmollified by advances on his side, which, in a boy's barbarous fashion, unless it suited me to be magnanimous, I haughtily ignored."
— 1923, Walter de la Mare, Seaton's Aunt:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite being betrayed, the ____ leader offered his enemies a full pardon and resources.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The teacher was ____ enough to give the students another chance to complete their overdue assignments.