goodwill

Or good will

[good-wil]

noun

1. friendly disposition; benevolence; kindness.

   Synonyms: friendliness

2. cheerful acquiescence or consent.

3. Commerce.,  an intangible, saleable asset arising from the reputation of a business and its relations with its customers, distinct from the value of its stock and other tangible assets.

goodwill

/ ˌɡʊdˈwɪl /

noun

1. a feeling of benevolence, approval, and kindly interest

2. (modifier) resulting from, showing, or designed to show goodwill

   the government sent a goodwill mission to Moscow

   a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF

3. willingness or acquiescence

4. accounting an intangible asset taken into account in assessing the value of an enterprise and reflecting its commercial reputation, customer connections, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of goodwill¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English gōd willa. See good, will ²

Synonym Study

See favor.

Example Sentences

Centene said it had taken a $6.7 billion goodwill impairment in the third quarter as a result of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the drop in the company’s stock price.

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From a human-resources perspective, it makes little sense to effectively conflate vacation days with work-from-home days, and it also seems to run counter to promoting goodwill.

Read more on MarketWatch

If the Chinese let him go as a gesture of goodwill, their problem goes away.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But this month, soldiers on each side exchanged gifts of sweets on the Hindu festival of Diwali, "marking a gesture of goodwill", said Yu Jing, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India.

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Carney has taken a softer tone than Ford, trying to build goodwill with the U.S.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal