entitlement

An entitlement is the right to a particular privilege or benefit, granted by law or custom. You have a legal entitlement to speak to a lawyer if you’re ever arrested and put in jail.

Your entitlement program at work might offer various benefits, or you might receive a medical entitlement once you reach a certain age. These are just basic things you get. More recently, entitlement has taken on a critical sense. If someone has a sense of entitlement, that means the person believes he deserves certain privileges — and he’s arrogant about it. The term “culture of entitlement” suggests that many people now have highly unreasonable expectations about what they are entitled to.