Word.ws English Dictionary

privileged

Syllables: priv·i·leged/ˈpɹɪv(ɪ)lɪd͡ʒd/

privileged is the simple past and past participle of privilege.

Adjective

privileged (comparative more privileged, superlative most privileged)

  1. Having special privileges.
    • "You are very dull this morning, Sheriff," said the youngest daughter of the house, who, being the baby and pretty, had grown pettishly privileged in speech.1895, S. R. Crockett, A Cry Across the Black Water
  2. Not subject to legal discovery due to a protected status.

Meaning of privilege

Verb

privilege (third-person singular simple present privileges, present participle privileging, simple past and past participle privileged)

  1. (archaic, transitive) To grant some particular right or exemption to; to invest with a peculiar right or immunity; to authorize
    • to privilege representatives from arrest
  2. (archaic) To bring or put into a condition of privilege or exemption from evil or danger; to exempt; to deliver.
  3. (transitive) To prioritize.
    • “Rolling Stone” is spacious and ethereal but not directionless — it is R&B that privileges mood over structure, soft daubs of feeling over authoritative belting.2022 July 20, Jon Caramanica, “R&B That Sweats, Emotionally and Physically”, in The New York Times

See all 11 meanings of privilege

Forms of privileged

comparativemore privileged
superlativemost privileged

Words formed from privileged

Phrases with privileged

Questions about privileged

What does privileged mean?
Privileged means having special privileges.
What is privileged the simple past and past participle of?
Privileged is the simple past and past participle of privilege.
What part of speech is privileged?
Privileged is an adjective.
How do you pronounce privileged?
Privileged is pronounced /ˈpɹɪv(ɪ)lɪd͡ʒd/.

Words near privileged in the dictionary

  1. privilege days
  2. privilege escalation
  3. privilege escalations
  4. privilege walk
  5. privilege walks
  6. privileged
  7. privileged debt
  8. privileged debts
  9. privileged sanctuaries
  10. privileged sanctuary
  11. privilegee

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: privileged (page history and authors); privilege (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-privileged.ogg.

Cite this entry: “privileged.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/privileged. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.