well-meaning
Americanadjective
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meaning or intending well; having good intentions.
a well-meaning but tactless person.
-
Also well-meant proceeding from good intentions.
Her well-meaning words were received in silence.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of well-meaning
A Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“It looks like a Greek tragedy: these well-meaning business leaders who are trapped in this race to the bottom,” said Max Tegmark, an AI safety campaigner.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
Morissette told Cooper that when she first experienced symptoms, she reached out to multiple therapists, who didn’t seem to know how to treat the issue, no matter how well-meaning they were.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
He described the participants as "well-meaning" but "misinformed" about the potential environmental impact.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
Many of them are doing so out of a well-meaning but ill-informed abundance of caution.
From Salon ● May 7, 2026
All these years, I never considered the possibility that my father—my well-meaning but occasionally whacked-out father—might be walking around with a broken heart, carrying a pain too awful to talk about.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
