well-willer
well-willer noun: one who wishes (someone) well, or means kindly (toward someone).
Noun
well-willer (plural well-willers)
- One who wishes (someone) well, or means kindly (toward someone).
- For he determined with him selfe thenceforth to send no embassadour vnto Constantius, neyther to doe homage, or to honor him as his superiour, patrone, or wellwiller: but to deale in all matters accordinge vnto his owne will and pleasure.1577, “The Ecclesiasticall Historye of Socrates Scholasticvs”, in Meredith Hanmer, transl., The Auncient Ecclesiasticall Histories of the First Six Hundred Yeares after Christ, London: Thomas...
- […] I beseech you, be ruled by your well-willers.c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merry Wiues of Windsor”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Synonyms:
- friend, good willer, supporter, well-wisher
- Antonyms:
- enemy, evil willer, ill-willer
Examples of well-willer in a sentence
- Thus hoping you will be thus advis’d, and will withal excuse my Errors, I shall ever study how to serve you, and subscribe my self a well-willer to all men.1674, Charles Cotton, The Compleat Gamester, London: R. Cutler, The Epistle to the Reader:
- Every-body and every-thing had a black and a white side, as ill-willers and well-willers were pleased to report.1748, [Samuel Richardson], chapter 20, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume VI, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd...
Synonyms of well-willer
Antonyms
Forms of well-willer
| plural | well-willers |
|---|---|
| alternative form | wellwiller |
Origin of well-willer
Possibly a calque of Latin benevolēns from bene (“well”) + volēns (“(one) wishing”).
Words that rhyme with well-willer
Questions about well-willer
- What does well-willer mean?
- Well-willer means one who wishes (someone) well, or means kindly (toward someone).
- How do you use well-willer in a sentence?
- Thus hoping you will be thus advis’d, and will withal excuse my Errors, I shall ever study how to serve you, and subscribe my self a well-willer to all men.
- What part of speech is well-willer?
- Well-willer is a noun.
- What is the plural of well-willer?
- The plural of well-willer is well-willers.
Words near well-willer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: well-willer (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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