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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

well.

Accurately, competently, satisfactorily.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adv/ˈwɛl/General-American, Ireland, Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɛʊ̯//ˈwel/Australia/ˈwæl/

  1. Accurately, competently, satisfactorily.

    He does his job well.
    My RV runs well on diesel.

  2. Completely, fully.

    I prefer a well done steak.
    Cook the potatoes well to ensure they aren't tough.

  3. To a significant degree.

    That author is well known.
    A monument well worth seeing

  4. Very (as a general-purpose intensifier).

    Commonwealth · Ireland · UK · slang

  5. In a desirable manner; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favourably; advantageously.

    I'm glad Joe got fired last week. I think we're well rid of him.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wel, wal, wol, wele, from Old English wel (“well, abundantly, very, very easily, very much, fully, quite, nearly”), from Proto-Germanic *wela, *wala (“well”, literally “as wished, as desired”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“wish, desire”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vella, waal, wel, well, wull (“well”), Cimbrian boll, bóol (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German wohl, wol, woll (“well”), Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk vel (“well”), Faroese væl (“well”), Swedish väl, waͤl (“well”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (waila, “well”). Related to will.

adj/ˈwɛl/General-American, Ireland, Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɛʊ̯//ˈwel/Australia/ˈwæl/

  1. In good health.

    I've been sick, but now I'm well.
    I've always been a healthy, fit woman, but right now I really don't feel very well.

  2. Highly satisfactory

    Everything well with you?

  3. Good, content.

    “How are you?” — “I'm well, thank you!”

  4. Prudent; good; well-advised.

    uncommon

  5. Good to eat; tasty, delicious.

    archaic
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wel, wal, wol, wele, from Old English wel (“well, abundantly, very, very easily, very much, fully, quite, nearly”), from Proto-Germanic *wela, *wala (“well”, literally “as wished, as desired”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“wish, desire”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vella, waal, wel, well, wull (“well”), Cimbrian boll, bóol (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German wohl, wol, woll (“well”), Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk vel (“well”), Faroese væl (“well”), Swedish väl, waͤl (“well”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (waila, “well”). Related to will.

intj/ˈwɛl/General-American, Ireland, Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɛʊ̯//ˈwel/Australia/ˈwæl/

  1. Used as a discourse marker.

    “So, what have you been doing?” “Well, we went for a picnic; and then it started raining, so we came home early.”

  2. Used as a discourse marker. Used as a hedge.

    “The car is broken.” “Well, we could walk to the movies instead.”
    “I didn't like the music.” “Well, I thought it was good.”

  3. Used as a discourse marker. Expressing reluctance to say something.

    It was a bit... well, too loud.

  4. An exclamation of sarcastic surprise (often doubled or tripled and in a lowering intonation).

    Well, well, well, what do we have here?

  5. An exclamation of indignance.

    Well! There was no need to say that in front of my mother!

  6. Used as a greeting, short for "Are you well?"

    Ireland
    Well, lads? How's things?

  7. Used as a question to demand an answer from someone.

    And what do you think you're doing? ... Well?
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wel, wal, wol, wele, from Old English wel (“well, abundantly, very, very easily, very much, fully, quite, nearly”), from Proto-Germanic *wela, *wala (“well”, literally “as wished, as desired”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“wish, desire”). Cognates Cognate with Yola vella, waal, wel, well, wull (“well”), Cimbrian boll, bóol (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German wohl, wol, woll (“well”), Danish, Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk vel (“well”), Faroese væl (“well”), Swedish väl, waͤl (“well”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰 (waila, “well”). Related to will.

noun/ˈwɛl/General-American, Ireland, Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɛʊ̯//ˈwel/Australia/ˈwæl/

  1. A hole sunk into the ground as a source of water, oil, natural gas or other fluids.

  2. A place where a liquid such as water surfaces naturally; a spring.

  3. A small depression, e.g. suitable for holding liquid or other objects.

    Make a well in the dough mixture and pour in the milk.

  4. A source of supply.

    figuratively

  5. A vertical, cylindrical trunk in a ship, reaching down to the lowest part of the hull, through which the bilge pumps operate.

  6. The cockpit of a sailboat.

  7. A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water to keep fish alive while they are transported to market.

  8. A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of the water.

  9. A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries.

  10. An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole.

  11. The open space between the bench and the counsel tables in a courtroom.

  12. The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls.

  13. A well drink.

    They're having a special tonight: $1 wells.

  14. The playfield of Tetris and similar video games, into which the blocks fall.

  15. In a microtiter plate, each of the small equal circular or square sections which serve as test tubes.

  16. The region of an interface that contains tabs.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English welle, from Old English wielle (“well”), from Proto-West Germanic *wallijā, from Proto-Germanic *wallijǭ (“well, swirl, wave”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn; wind; roll”). Cognate with West Frisian wel (“well”), Dutch wel (“well”), German Low German Well (“well”), German Welle (“wave”), Danish væld (“well; spring”), Swedish väl (“well”), Icelandic vella (“boiling; bubbling; eruption”).

verb/ˈwɛl/General-American, Ireland, Received-Pronunciation/ˈwɛʊ̯//ˈwel/Australia/ˈwæl/

  1. To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring.

    intransitive

  2. To have something seep out of the surface.

    intransitive
    Her eyes welled with tears.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wellen, from a merger of Old English weallan (intransitive) and wiellan (transitive), both meaning “to boil.” Further from Proto-Germanic *wallaną and *wallijaną. Doublet of wall. Cognate with German wallen (“boil, seethe”), Danish vælde (“gush”), Norwegian Nynorsk vella and outside Germanic, with Albanian valë (“hot, boiling”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.