well-meaning

[ wel-mee-ning ]

adjective
  1. meaning or intending well; having good intentions: a well-meaning but tactless person.

  2. Also well-meant [wel-ment] /ˈwɛlˈmɛnt/ . proceeding from good intentions: Her well-meaning words were received in silence.

Origin of well-meaning

1
A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
  • Also well-in·ten·tioned [wel-in-ten-shuhnd] /ˈwɛl ɪnˈtɛn ʃənd/ .

Words Nearby well-meaning

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use well-meaning in a sentence

  • She was an honourable and well-meaning woman, who had found her own sphere in active good works among the poor of Thetford.

    Robin Redbreast | Mary Louisa Molesworth
  • I met and talked with him this morning, and a simple priest he is, though a good, well-meaning man.

  • She was a hard-working, honest, and well-meaning soul, but she was not her husband's equal.

    Sue, A Little Heroine | L. T. Meade
  • A man of ridiculous theories, but well-meaning, brave, and honest.

  • A man of wild and ridiculous theories, but well-meaning, brave, and honest.

British Dictionary definitions for well-meaning

well-meaning

adjective(well meaning when postpositive)
  1. having or indicating good or benevolent intentions, usually with unfortunate results

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012