Magnanimity

Generosity of spirit toward a rival, critic, or person over whom one has an advantage.

Reach for it when recognizing gracious conduct when retaliation, boasting, or pettiness would have been easy

Her magnanimity was clearest when she invited her former opponent to help lead the project.

• warm

  big-heartedness

  for emotionally generous treatment in personal language

  not when Its conversational warmth clashes with a legal, diplomatic, or ceremonial context.

• warm

  generosity

  when giving time, credit, money, or goodwill is the main action

  not when Generosity includes many giving acts without any rival, offender, or restraint.

• warm

  graciousness

  for considerate behavior in victory, disagreement, or social strain

  not when Graciousness can describe polished manners without the moral largeness of magnanimity.

• professional

  fair-mindedness

  when someone judges an opponent's case without bias

  not when Fair-mindedness promises balance but not the generosity that goes beyond fairness.

• formal

  clemency

  when a person with authority reduces a deserved penalty

  not when Clemency requires power over punishment and does not fit ordinary peer disagreements.

• formal

  forbearance

  when someone chooses not to punish, answer, or retaliate

  not when Forbearance emphasizes restraint, not active generosity or praise for the other side.

• literary

  charity

  when interpreting another person's motives with kindness

  not when Charity can be mistaken for financial aid or religious virtue.

• literary

  largeness of spirit

  when the praise needs to name emotional and moral breadth

  not when This elevated phrase sounds excessive for a small courtesy.

• literary

  nobility

  when conduct reflects elevated principles rather than self-interest

  not when Nobility can sound grandiose and historically class-bound in everyday praise.

• pettiness
• vindictiveness
• spite

• show magnanimity

  The captain chose to show magnanimity after the disputed final.

• act of magnanimity

  Sharing the award was an act of magnanimity, not an admission of doubt.

• magnanimity in victory

  Magnanimity in victory earned more respect than the score itself.

• merriam-webster, noun sense: loftiness of spirit that enables generous conduct ↗opens in a new tab · retrieved 2026-07-26

The definition and the example on this page are written here. The dictionaries above ground which meaning is being described, not the wording.