From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishgenerousgen‧e‧rous /ˈdʒenərəs/ ●●○ W3 adjective 1 GENEROUSsomeone who is generous is willing to give money, spend time etc, in order to help people or give them pleasure OPP meangenerous to somebody She’s always very generous to the kids.generous with something Jim is very generous with his time.it/that is generous (of somebody) It was generous of them to ask Anna along.generous offer/support/donation etc my employer’s generous offer to pay the bill► see thesaurus at kind2 BIGlarger or more than the usual size or amount OPP measly a generous glass of winegenerous amount/helping/measure etc a generous helping of pasta He had a well-shaped generous mouth.3 KINDsympathetic in the way you deal with people, and tending to see the good qualities in someone or something OPP mean She was generous enough to overlook my little mistake. —generously adverb Please give generously to the refugee fund.
Examples from the Corpus
generous• The company offers bonuses, stock options, and a generous benefit package.• Thanks largely to some generous donations from absent well-wishers, we also made more money than last year.• The Cranstons are among the museum's most generous donors.• She is usually generous in her judgments of people.• He was a generous man with strong abrasive streaks and keen hatreds.• My dad offered to pay my plane fare, which was very generous of him.• It's really a very generous one.• a generous pension plan• I am so amazed at how caring and generous people are here.• I usually stir a generous quantity of rum into the cake mixture.• He heaped the plate with a generous serving of meat and potato pie.• My sister's really generous. She's always buying things for her friends.• a generous slice of cake• Roy was always cheerful and outgoing and generous to everyone.• Nevertheless, the move back towards a more generous welfare policy for older people was hesitatingly slow.• Mrs. Flatch is a very generous woman.generous to somebody• Ida is more generous to family and friends than her sister.generous amount/helping/measure etc• Evelyn poured everyone out a generous measure.• She watched him carefully as Wakelate brought in the brandy and poured out a generous measure.• He poured a generous measure into a plastic cup then slid it over the top of the desk into her hand.• Has an interesting nuttiness and generous amount of alcohol, but not much spice.• He also made sure that the servants had a generous amount of beer, too.• The idea is to introduce a generous helping of loose feed in the first instance.• She poured out a generous measure of malt whisky and positioned the glass in front of his nose.• Simply smear on a generous amount over your skin after cleansing to make a revitalising face mask.Origin generous (1500-1600) French généreux, from Latin generosus “born into a high rank”, from genus; → GENUS 