Adverbial good has been under attack from the schoolroom since the 19th century. Insistence on well rather than good has resulted in a split in connotation: well is standard, neutral, and colorless, while good is emotionally charged and emphatic. This makes good the adverb of choice in sports.
"I'm seeing the ball real good" is what you hear —Roger Angell
In such contexts as
listen up. And listen good—Alex Karras
lets fly with his tomatoes before they can flee. He gets Clarence good—Charles Dickinson
good cannot be adequately replaced by well. Adverbial good is primarily a spoken form; in writing it occurs in reported and fictional speech and in generally familiar or informal contexts.
of liquor: used for making mixed drinks when no branded alcohol is specified
also: made with well liquor
a well drink
Good vs. Well: Usage Guide
An old notion that it is wrong to say "I feel good" in reference to health still occasionally appears in print. The origins of this notion are obscure, but they seem to combine someone's idea that good should be reserved to describe virtue and uncertainty about whether an adverb or an adjective should follow feel. Today nearly everyone agrees that both good and well can be predicate adjectives after feel. Both are used to express good health, but good may connote good spirits in addition to good health.
healthy implies full strength and vigor as well as freedom from signs of disease.
a healthy family
sound emphasizes the absence of disease, weakness, or malfunction.
a sound heart
wholesome implies appearance and behavior indicating soundness and balance.
a face with a wholesome glow
robust implies the opposite of all that is delicate or sickly.
a lively, robust little boy
hale applies particularly to robustness in old age.
still hale at the age of eighty
well implies merely freedom from disease or illness.
she has never been a well person
Examples of well in a Sentence
Noun
his quirkily dysfunctional family proved to be a bottomless well of inspiration for the novelist
the spot where the spring bubbles up to the surface and forms a deep wellAdverb
“How did everything go?” “It went well, thank you.”
She works well under pressure.
I did surprisingly well on my history test.
The company is doing well.
He has his own business and is doing well for himself.
You got a perfect score! Well done!
She sings and plays the guitar quite well.
The essay is well written.
He doesn't smoke or drink, and he eats well.
She doesn't treat her boyfriend very well. Adjective
The children are well again.
I don't feel very well.
You don't look so well.
I hope you get well soon.
I hope all is well with you and your family.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
About 15% of the US population, or more than 43 million people, rely on drinking water from wells, according to the US Geological Survey.—Sandee Lamotte, CNN, 10 Apr. 2024 To help, President Joe Biden’s administration is pumping nearly $1 billion in newly available funding to help states, territories, and communities implement PFAS testing and treatment, and to owners of private wells to address contamination.—Mallory Moench, TIME, 10 Apr. 2024 Last June, a utility outside Philadelphia that serves nearly 9,000 people learned that one of its wells had a PFOA level of 235 parts per trillion, among the highest results in the country at the time.—Michael Phillis, Fortune, 10 Apr. 2024 The public improvement district spans 836 acres of ranchland and gas wells near Eagle Mountain Lake, encased by Morris Dido Newark Road, Peden Road, and Bonds Ranch Road, the project’s namesake.—Jaime Moore-Carrillo, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Apr. 2024 Dean Keely, interim pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Vicksburg, said the church’s well ran dry a decade ago, and that trucks from Saudi farm operations also create a nuisance.—The Arizona Republic, 29 Mar. 2024 Thousands of coins were found within the well from eras between the first and fifth centuries, according to researchers at the UC Irvine, proving people have been throwing coins for generations.—Samantha Murphy Kelly, CNN, 30 Mar. 2024 The resurgence of blood as political metaphor in the United States draws upon these deep wells of symbolic power, copiously though not consistently.—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 29 Mar. 2024 The community has fundraised to keep this public well a part of the neighborhood, but it isn't recommended to drink the well's water.—Gina Lee Castro, Journal Sentinel, 28 Mar. 2024
Verb
Inevitably, though, Perriello also lets a welling frustration peek through his diplomatic mien.—Andreas Kluth, The Mercury News, 10 Apr. 2024 One of the bullets hit Rincon, whose eyes welled up during testimony, just above his left knee.—Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 27 Feb. 2024 Here, the Eurasian and North American plates gradually draw away from one another, sending molten rock welling up from the deep to erupt at the surface.—Maya Wei-Haas, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Feb. 2024 The animosity first welled up during the decade-long Soviet war in Afghanistan, continued through during Russia’s two brutal wars in Chechnya and escalated when the Russian Air Force was deployed to Syria in September 2015.—Neil MacFarquhar, New York Times, 24 Mar. 2024 Sister Wives’ Janelle Brown welled up with emotion after learning people had made donations to animal shelters to honor her late son Garrison Brown.—Jp Mangalindan, Peoplemag, 13 Mar. 2024 DeBose then paused to collect herself as tears welled in her eyes.—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 31 Jan. 2024 Speaking about the electoral process at one point, her eyes welled with tears.—Ariane Lange, Sacramento Bee, 5 Mar. 2024 Tears welled up in my goggles, pooling at the soft rim of the face cushion.—Lauren Goode, WIRED, 22 Feb. 2024
Adverb
Support journalism on a mission to make business better.—Samanth Subramanian, Quartz, 13 Apr. 2024 The Infatuation continues to expand its celebrity partnerships, with talent like Selena Gomez through editorial and social collaboration as well.—Melinda Sheckells, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 Apr. 2024 Russia’s bombardment of Ukrainian energy sites has been larger and better planned than the attacks in the previous two years, knocking out generating facilities and limiting power supplies.—Daryna Krasnolutska, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2024 Formal, or maintained, landscapes are typically well groomed, requiring frequent maintenance while informal, or free formed, are landscapes where the plants are left to grow.—Chris McKeown, The Enquirer, 13 Apr. 2024 The school’s version is well on its way there, with one of the five figures missing entirely as the others have started to weather away.—Emily Alvarenga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Apr. 2024 Even better, our favorite finds start at just $42, so act fast to snag them while discounts last.—Clara McMahon, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2024 The family shared an official memorial site for Benjamin, as well.—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 1 Apr. 2024 In working with patients to better understand their experiences of being gaslit, Ashtor is hoping to give them a different way to engage with the impulses that led them there.—Leslie Jamison, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
Interjection
DeSantis dropped out of the presidential race shortly after a distant second place finish to Trump in the Iowa Caucus and well before Florida’s March 19 primary that Trump won handily over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.—USA TODAY, 14 Apr. 2024 The bunker deep down the fairway — the one that can scare the heck out of you on the tee box — well that didn’t matter much for Lamprecht, who smacked his drive 367 yards and a mile over that trap.—Jordan Kaye, Charlotte Observer, 12 Apr. 2024 Feel wind, feel maybe some splashes of water, but all is calm, until, well, the storm.—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 20 Mar. 2024 Coming back to the drama a little bit—I’m curious about, well, the petty crime, Colin.—Hazlitt, 20 Mar. 2024 There’s a bunch of different— well, a whole mess of different ways to do this.—Stephen Cass, IEEE Spectrum, 20 Mar. 2024 Macro means large, so macronutrients are the nutrients your body needs in, well, large amounts.—Brierley Horton, Ms, Better Homes & Gardens, 20 Mar. 2024 There is definitely competition; well, not so much competition, as a lot of options.—Kristine M. Kierzek, Journal Sentinel, 8 Mar. 2024 The pants, however, are also see-through, which is something even MLB’s biggest stars are having a hard time getting, well, behind.—Anna Lazarus Caplan, Peoplemag, 23 Feb. 2024
Adjective
Confidence: Medium-High A look ahead Most showers are well to our north and south on Saturday, but clouds should still be plentiful.—David Streit, Washington Post, 30 Nov. 2023 Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers and hope to see you soon.—Ingrid Vasquez, Peoplemag, 13 Oct. 2023 This was not the first time Burgess mentioned how well life with their blended family is going.—Daniel S. Levine, Peoplemag, 18 July 2023 In addition to the state-of-the-art tailgating zone, Cindy and her family received some well wishes from former Jets running back Curtis Martin.—Ally Mauch, PEOPLE.com, 25 Aug. 2020 Grateful for all the well wishes....—Philip Ellis, Men's Health, 10 Apr. 2023 Thanks to Chris & everyone for the well wishes.—Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 9 Apr. 2023 Rumors of behind-the-scenes friction have been circulating since February—in particular regarding the show's star Kevin Costner and Sheridan—and to some, the failure to appear seemed like yet another indicator that all is not well with the ranching drama.—Lauren Hubbard, Town & Country, 7 Apr. 2023 Seth Meyers stopped by Studio 8H to offer well wishes.—Rebecca Rubin, Variety, 1 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'well.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English welle, wille "spring of water, pool formed by a spring, pit sunk into the earth to reach water," going back to Old English wælle (Anglian), wiell, wielle (West Saxon, later wille, wylle), going back to a Germanic base *waln(j)- (also *walj-?) with varying stem formations (whence also Old Frisian walla "spring, source," Middle Dutch wal, walle "a seething, boiling heat, spring or river of seething water") and with e-grade ablaut Old High German wella "wave, tide," Old Icelandic vella "boiling, bubbling mass," all nominal derivatives from the base of Germanic *walla- "to well up, seethe, bubble" — more at well entry 2
Note:
Comparable nominal formations from Indo-European *u̯el(H)- "seethe, bubble" with zero-grade ablaut are Old Church Slavic vlĭna "wave," Russian volná (< *u̯l̥H-neh2), Lithuanian vilnìs "wave" (< *u̯l̥H-ni-), Sanskrit ūrmí- "wave" (< *u̯l̥H-mi-).
Verb
Middle English wellen "to rise to the surface, bubble up, boil, seethe," probably in part verbal derivative of welle "spring of water, well entry 1," in part adaptation of the transitive verb wellen "to boil, curdle, melt (metal), refine," going back to Old English wellan, wyllan (< *wiellan) "to cause to boil," probably going back to Germanic *wall(j)an- (whence also Middle Dutch & Middle High German wellen "to make boil," Old Icelandic vella), causative from *wallan- "to well up, seethe, bubble," Class VII strong verb (whence Old English weallan "to boil, bubble up," Old Frisian walla, Old Saxon wallan "to blaze, boil up, well up," Old High German, "to boil up, well up"), a Germanic verbal base of uncertain origin, seen also with a zero-grade present without gemination in Gothic wulan "to seethe, spread (of an ulcer)"
Note:
Both the Middle English Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary, third edition (OED), treat the two Middle English verbs wellen as simply the same verb; compare, however, J. de Vries (Nederlands Etymologisch Woordenboek), who treats Dutch wellen "to bubble up" (opborrelen) and wellen "to make boil, hammer white-hot metal together" (doen koken, gloeiende metalen aaneenhameren) in separate articles. The OED asserts that there is a range of dialect attestation of the verb (wællan, wellan, willan, wyllan), apparently on the basis of the few forms given in the citations (the imperatives wel, wyl and wæl in recipes): "In Old English the verb shows the expected reflex of the i-mutation of early Old English æ (West Germanic a) before ll, depending on dialect." But if this statement is based on a reconstruction of the immediate pre-Old English form and inflection of the verb, or its West Germanic predecessor, no such reconstruction is given. The etymology itself merely lists a group of supposed Germanic cognates, summarized by the statement "a causative formation < the same Germanic base as wall v.1 [i.e., Old English weallan]." — In addition to *wallan-, Germanic has an apparent e-grade strong verb *wellan-, seen in Old Saxon and Old High German biwellan "to stain, besmirch," Old Icelandic vella "to well over, boil," and probably Old English wollentēar "with streaming tears." Along with a series of nominal formations outside Germanic based on a zero-grade *u̯l̥H- (see note at well entry 1), the Germanic verbs would lead to an Indo-European base *u̯el(H)- "seethe, bubble." Some have seen this etymon as identical with a homonymous base meaning "to roll" (see welter entry 1), the view of H. Rix, et al. (Lexikon der indogermanischen Verben, 2. Auflage, Wiesbaden, 2001). E. Seebold, on the other hand (Vergleichendes und etymologisches Wörterbuch der germanischen starken Verben, Mouton, 1970, p. 552) thinks the connection in sense is not so easily explained ("Wie diese Bedeutungsvielfalt zu erklären ist, bleibt unklar"; likewise Kluge-Seebold, 22. Auflage, s.v. wallen). Seebold points to the proximity of form and identical meaning of Lithuanian vérda, vìrti "to boil, seethe," Old Church Slavic vĭrěti.
Adverb
Middle English wel, going back to Old English, going back to Germanic *welō (whence Old Frisian wol, wel, wal "in a good manner," Old Saxon wola, wela, wala, Old High German wola, Old Norse vel, val), from an adjectival derivative of the base of *weljan- "to want" — more at will entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
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