Boon
Boon noun - Something that provides happiness or does good for a person or thing.
Usage example: the unexpected rain was a boon for the farmers who had been struggling with drought
Curse
Curse noun - A source of harm or misfortune.
Usage example: intolerance of personal differences is a curse of humanity
How words are described
| initial | initial boon | initial curse |
| real | real boon | real curse |
| massive | massive boon | massive curse |
| supernatural | supernatural boon | supernatural curse |
| Other adjectives: final, eternal, mysterious. | ||
Both words in one sentence
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So, yeah, this trope is a very mixed bag when it comes to the economy: It's both a boon and a curse.
Source: Achievements in Ignorance - Will the wayward unicorn's assistance be a boon or a curse to the 'humans?
Source: Fanfic Recs / X-COM -
Similar to the example of Hermione erasing her parents' memories of her, in the backstory of The Stormlight Archive, one of the protagonists, Dalinar Kholin, sought out a being that grants a boon and a curse that it feels is appropriate.
Source: Ret Gone
Cite this Source
Curse and Boon. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 16, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/boon/curse
Boon & Curse. N.p., 2016. Web. 16 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/boon/curse>.
Curse or Boon. 2016. Accessed August 16, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/boon/curse.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "boon" and "curse" have occurred on timeline