Meaning & use
rewarded
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“rewarded” is a form of “reward”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
verbtransitive
Past tense and past participle of reward: gave someone something good in return for effort, good behavior or success.
Grammar: Takes an object and often for or with: rewarded her for her help.
Patterns
- rewarded someone for something
- rewarded someone with something
The teacher rewarded the class with extra recess.
She was rewarded for her hard work with a promotion.
The shop rewarded loyal customers with discounts.
adjectivecomparable
Feeling that your effort has been worth it or receiving something in return for it.
Grammar: Usually follows feel or be: she felt rewarded.
Patterns
- feel rewarded
- be richly rewarded
He felt rewarded when the students thanked him.
Volunteers are rewarded by seeing the difference they make.
The detective was rewarded with a breakthrough.
Word forms
| base form | reward |
|---|
Common combinations
- richly rewarded
- Patience is richly rewarded here.
- rewarded for hard work
- She was rewarded for hard work with a bonus.
- feel rewarded
- I felt rewarded after finishing the course.
- rewarded with praise
- The puppy was rewarded with praise.
- handsomely rewarded
- Informants were handsomely rewarded.
Synonyms and how they differ
- compensated
- Compensated suggests payment for loss or work, while rewarded stresses recognition of good effort.
- recognized
- Recognized only means noticed and acknowledged, whereas rewarded involves giving something.
- paid
- Paid is about money, while rewarded can be a prize, praise or privilege.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: rewarded or rewarding?
rewarded vs rewarding
Rewarding describes a task that gives satisfaction. Rewarded describes the person who received something.
Practice
Choose the correct preposition: The students were rewarded ___ their excellent attendance.
Choose one answer.
We reward someone for something. Rewarded by is possible for the giver, but does not fit before attendance.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “rewarded”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.