forbidden word: entitlement

entitlement

entitlement, noun

1. the act of giving, or the state of having, a title, right, or claim to something.

   She supported legislation to improve the lot of the elderly, including the entitlement of senior citizens to vote by absentee ballot.

2. a provision, amount, etc., to which one is entitled; a right.

   A good education is the moral entitlement of every child.

   Temporary teachers receive most of the entitlements of permanent teachers, including annual salary, on a prorated basis.

3. a government program, such as Social Security or unemployment insurance, that provides a benefit to eligible participants, or the benefit provided by such a program.

   Eligibility for this insurance program will be affected if there is also a Medicare entitlement.

4. the unjustified assumption that one has a right to certain advantages, preferential treatment, etc..

   “Their sense of entitlement—I don’t want to call it arrogance—makes dealing with some people difficult,” said the senator.

Etymology

Origin of entitlement
First recorded in 1825–35; entitle + -ment

Example Sentences containing entitlement

A few yards away, Iglesias is watching Roka, his tiny black chihuahua, dart around the field like four pounds of rambunctious entitlement.
From Los Angeles Times

But Chip’s need for connection and reflexive sense of entitlement proves disastrous — the story isn’t going the way he wanted, and Groff allows it to collapse on him.
From Los Angeles Times

To enter the country, they will need to show either a British passport or a new digital version of the certificate of entitlement to attach to their second nationality passport.
From BBC

Pupils who already have the plans will be able to keep them until at least September 2029, when children will start to have their support entitlements reassessed at the end of primary school and GCSEs.
From BBC

The government described them as “flexible” plans that set out what the child needs day to day – as opposed to an EHCP, which is the framework giving them legal entitlement to support.
From BBC

from — Definition of entitlement. (n.d.).

March 22, 2026
Hudson Valley, New York

This is one of the words/ phrases you can’t say in the new Trump Regime. See a comprehensive list at the Forbidden Words Project.

image: time circles round © Holly Troy 2024

These policies’ tentacles already extend beyond government websites, though removing HIV resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, regardless of whether they mentioned “gender ideology” or other banned terms, is bad enough. Reports say scientists are self-censoring in hopes of improving their chances of getting government grants.

from — Connelly, E. A. (2025, December 22). Federal Government’s Growing Banned Words List Is Chilling Act of Censorship. PEN America.