mean well

idiom

: to want to do good or helpful things : to have good intentions
He means well, but he's not really helping anyone.

Examples of mean well in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Pisces February 19 – March 20 Others may mean well, but the road paved with good intentions isn’t a good path right now. Tarot.com, Sun Sentinel, 17 Jan. 2024 Hélène finds the awkward response of her social circle unendurable; people mean well, but are terrified of saying the wrong thing. Catherine Bray, Variety, 4 Oct. 2023 Google does mean well by favoring longer, keyword-rich posts, videos, and studio-quality photography in its algorithm. Peggy Paul Casella, WIRED, 2 July 2023 Awkward situations create awkwardness, and generally people mean well. Annie Lane, oregonlive, 7 June 2023 Players enlist family, friends and business associates who may mean well, but are inexperienced and ineffective at running a nonprofit. Jason Wolf, The Arizona Republic, 6 Mar. 2023 Many of you may have good intentions and mean well. Jesse Sparks, Bon Appétit, 4 June 2020 But those who take up that responsibility and mean well ought to give us more than the easy, know-nothing cynicism we’ve been handed down for generations. Osita Nwanevu, The New Republic, 25 Apr. 2022 Lot of players mean well, but have better futures elsewhere. Ira Winderman, sun-sentinel.com, 12 Dec. 2020

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mean well.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Dictionary Entries Near mean well

Cite this Entry

“Mean well.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mean%20well. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

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