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

According to a 2023 survey conducted by Thriving Center for Psychology, 67% of those who had been ghosted had also ghosted other people, which points to a perpetual cycle where people who mean well turn into the very thing that is so upsetting to them. —Myisha Battle, TIME, 30 Sep. 2024

The soldiers mean well, constantly proffering money in the hope of receiving some modicum of cooperation that never materializes. —Foreign Affairs, 1 Sep. 2011

The mothers wielding professional expertise mean well. —Eliana Dockterman, TIME, 23 July 2024

Therefore, all communication is warfare, even if both parties mean well and intend peace, because there’s no way to verify the genuineness of good intentions and because all communication contains reliable information about respective capabilities and degree of technological advancement. —Nan Z. Da, Vulture, 3 Apr. 2024