- kind
- kind n *type, sort, stripe, kidney, ilk, description, nature, characterkind adj Kind, kindly, benign, benignant mean having or exhibiting a nature that is gentle, considerate, and inclined to benevolent or beneficent actions and are comparable especially as applied to persons and to their acts and utterances. Kind and kindly both imply possession of qualities (as interest in others' welfare, sympathy, and humaneness) appropriate to man as a rational, sensitive, and social being.The two words are often used interchangeably without loss, but they may be used distinctively, kind then implying reference to a disposition to be sympathetic and helpful, and kindly to the expression of a benevolent, sympathetic, or helpful nature, mood, or impulse; thus, he has a kind, rather than kindly, heart; he takes a kindly, rather than kind, interest in ambitious boys{
be kind to animals
}{the kindly ministrations of a nurse
}{kindly words of advice
}{the kindest man, the best-conditioned and unwearied spirit in doing courtesies— Shak.
}{ring in the valiant man and free, the larger heart, the kindlier hand\—Tennyson
}Benign (see also FAVORABLE) and benignant stress mildness, serenity, and mercifulness more than do kind and kindly; they also often imply graciousness and therefore are more frequently applied to superiors than to equals, when they are used to describe persons or their acts, utterances, or policies{a benign master
}{the transformation of a benign personality into a belligerent one— Mumford
}{a benignant influence
}{strange peace and rest fell on me from the presence of a benignant Spirit standing near— Sill
}Analogous words: benevolent, *charitable, humane, altruistic, philanthropic, eleemosynary, humanitarian: sympathetic, warm, warmhearted, responsive, *tender, compassionate: clement, lenient, indulgent, merciful, *forbearing, tolerant: *amiable, good-natured, complaisant, obligingAntonyms: unkind
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
