Definition

1. Noun:
   • A person or family receiving financial or material assistance from a welfare organization or public agency: The term refers to an individual or household whose situation (due to poverty, disability, or other hardship) is handled as a recipient of charitable aid or social welfare.
   • A situation requiring charitable intervention: It can also refer to the specific circumstances or instance that necessitates such aid.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • After losing his job and his savings, he feared becoming a charity case.
  • The community center identified several new charity cases after the factory closure.
  • She refused to accept help, not wanting to be seen as a charity case.

Advanced Usage

• The term can carry a negative or stigmatizing connotation, implying dependency or pity. More neutral, respectful alternatives like "beneficiary," "recipient of aid," or "client in need" are often preferred in formal or sensitive contexts.
• It can be used metaphorically to describe a failing organization or project that requires constant external support to survive.
  • That underfunded department has become a charity case for the rest of the company.

Variants and Related Words

• Charity (n): The voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need; an organization set up to provide such help.
• Case (n): An instance of a particular situation; a person or their particular problem requiring attention.

Synonyms

• Welfare case
• Recipient of charity
• Beneficiary (more formal/neutral)
• Dependent (in a social services context)

Related Idioms

• To be on charity / To live on charity: To depend on gifts or aid from others for survival.
  • After the disaster, many families were living on charity.

Noun

1. a case for a welfare worker