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Utility vs Benefit - What's the difference?

utility | benefit |

Benefit is a synonym of utility.



As nouns the difference between utility and benefit

is that utility is the state or condition of being useful; usefulness while benefit is an advantage, help, sake or aid from something.

As a verb benefit is

to be or to provide a benefit to.

utility

English

Noun

(utilities)
  • The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
  • Something that is useful.
  • (economics) The ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants; the satisfaction experienced by the consumer of that commodity.
  • (business, finance) A service provider, such as an electric company or water company; or , the securities of such a provider.
  • (computing) A software program designed to perform a single task or a small range of tasks, often to help manage and tune computer hardware, an operating system or application software.
    • I've bought a new disk utility that can recover deleted files.
  • (sports) The ability to play multiple positions.

    • Synonyms

    * (state of being useful) usefulness, * See also

    benefit

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An advantage, help, sake or aid from something.
  • *
    • , title=(The Celebrity), chapter=5 , passage=When this conversation was repeated in detail within the hearing of the young woman in question, and undoubtedly for his benefit , Mr. Trevor threw shame to the winds and scandalized the Misses Brewster then and there by proclaiming his father to have been a country storekeeper.}}
  • A payment made in accordance with an insurance policy or a public assistance scheme.
  • A performance, etc, given to raise funds for some cause.
  • (obsolete) beneficence; liberality

    • Derived terms

    * beneficial * benefiter

    Synonyms

    * (advantage, help ): foredeal, advantage, aid, assistance, boon, help * (payment ): subsidy

    Antonyms

    * (advantage, help ): disadvantage, encumbrance, hindrance, nuisance, obstacle, detriment

    See also

    * lagniappe

    Verb

  • To be or to provide a benefit to.
  • * Bible, Jer. xviii. 10
    • I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.
  • To receive a benefit (from); to be a beneficiary.

    • Usage notes

    * Benefiting and benefited are more common, with benefitting and benefitted being a minor variant especially in the US.

    Synonyms

    * help, batten

    Antonyms

    * malefic * detriment

    Derived terms

    (terms derived from "benefit") * benefit association * benefit dollar * benefit in kind * benefit of clergy * benefit principle * benefit society * benefit-cost analysis * benefit-cost ratio * benefits coordinator * bennies * cafeteria benefit * child tax benefit * core benefit * cost-benefit analysis * death benefit * elective benefit * employee benefit * equivalent annual benefit * family benefit * friend with benefits * fringe benefit * income-related benefit * injury benefit * maternity benefit * means-tested benefit * nonstatutory fringe benefit * nonwage benefit * private benefit * risk-benefit * sickness benefit * state benefit * stranded benefit * supplementary benefit * survivor benefit * unemployment benefit * variable death benefit *

    Related terms

    (terms related to "benefit") * benefactor * beneficence * beneficent * beneficiary