Word.ws English Dictionary

speak well of

speak well of verb: to say good things about someone or something.

Verb

speak well of (third-person singular simple present speaks well of, present participle speaking well of, simple past spoke well of, past participle spoken well of)

  1. To say good things about someone or something.
    • She believed every body spoke well of him.1816, Jane Austen, chapter 4, in Emma
    • "I have always shown her by my manner that I dislike her. She must think me an odious creature."
      "On the contrary," replied Idris, "whenever your name has been mentioned she has spoken well of you, and has expressed herself as desirous of your friendship."1904, John R. Carling, “Idris Declares His Love”, in The Viking's Skull, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, page 204

Synonyms of speak well of

28 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

10 more antonymsFewer antonyms

Forms of speak well of

third-person singular presentspeaks well of
present participlespeaking well of
pastspoke well of
past participlespoken well of

Questions about speak well of

What does speak well of mean?
Speak well of means to say good things about someone or something.
What part of speech is speak well of?
Speak well of is a verb.
What is the past tense of speak well of?
The past tense of speak well of is spoke well of.

Words near speak well of in the dictionary

  1. speak to
  2. speak too soon
  3. speak truth to power
  4. speak up
  5. speak volumes
  6. speak well of
  7. speak with a forked tongue
  8. speak'st
  9. speak-box
  10. speak-boxes
  11. speak-out

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: speak well of (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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