well-meaning

English

Adjective

well-meaning (comparative more well-meaning, superlative most well-meaning)

1. With good intentions, often used to reflect positively on a negative outcome or situation.

   The professor is well-meaning enough, but he usually ruins things one way or another.

   • 2012 March 15, Scott Tobias, “The Kid With A Bike [Review]”, in AV Club:

     In the first scene, he bites the arm of a well-meaning counselor at the group home and dashes out of the building, all in a vain attempt to locate the father who abandoned him.

Derived terms

• well-meaningly

Translations

with good intentions

• Bulgarian: доброжелателен (bg) (dobroželatelen)
• Czech: s dobrými úmysly
• Dutch: goedbedoeld (nl)
• Esperanto: bonintenca
• Finnish: hyväntahtoinen (fi), hyvää tarkoittava
• French: bien intentionné
• German: gutmeinender, gutwillig (de), gut gemeint
• Greek:

  Ancient: εὐφρονέων (euphronéōn)

• Hungarian: jóakaratú (hu), jóhiszemű (hu), jóindulatú (hu), jó szándékú
• Ido: bonintenca (io)
• Italian: benintenzionato
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: velmenende (no)

• Polish: o dobrych intencjach
• Portuguese: bem-intencionado
• Spanish: bienintencionado
• Swedish: välmenande, välment (sv)
• Yiddish: מיט גוטע כּוונות (mit gute kavones)