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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

well-meaningness en · NOUN

Etymology

From well-meaning + -ness.

Meanings

  1. (uncountable) The state, quality, or condition of being well-meaning.
    • He is certainly aware to a certain extent that some of what is being “accounted” is slanted in the general direction of American “well-meaningness.” 2009, LeRoi Jones, Home: Social Essays, page 53:
    • Some spirited brilliancy, some persistent generosity (other than the guzzle's flash of it), might soften him; something sweeter than the slow animal well-meaningness his placable brethren point his attention to. 1910, George Meredith, The Works of George Meredith, volume 20, page 180:
    • And in the face of the general proposition that nothing can be used aright until its purpose is known, the man who uses anything at all without such knowledge is acting blindly. He may mean well, but well-meaningness is not a substitute for knowledge of purpose. 1933, Frank Sheed, A Map of Life: