Word.ws English Dictionary

well-wisher

Syllables: well-wish·er/ˈwɛlˌwɪʃə/US/ˈwɛlˌwɪʃɚ/

well-wisher noun: someone who extends good wishes, or expresses sympathy, to someone else.

Noun (1)

well-wisher (plural well-wishers)

  1. Someone who extends good wishes, or expresses sympathy, to someone else.
    • [T]hose honest gentlemen that are always exposed to the wit and raillery of their well-wishers and companions; that are pelted by men, women, and children, friends and foes, and in a word, stand as butts in conversation, for every one to shoot at that pleases.1711 May 5 (Gregorian calendar), [Richard Steele], “TUESDAY, April 25, 1711”, in The Spectator, number 48; republished in Alexander Chalmers, editor, The Spectator; a New Edition, […], volume I, New...
    • [T]he actual traytor or rebel is guilty of perjury in the eye of the lavv; the ſecret promoter, or vvell-vviſher of the cauſe, is ſo before the Tribunal of conſcience.1716 January 19 (Gregorian calendar), Joseph Addison, “The Free-holder: No. 6. Sunday, January 9. [1716.]”, in The Works of the Right Honourable Joseph Addison, Esq; […], volume IV, London: […] Jacob...
  2. (obsolete, rare) Followed by to: someone who has an ambition to be or become something.
    • I never saw your chancellor, nor his chaplain. The latter has a good deal of learning, and is a well wisher to be an author: your chancellor is an excellent man.1711 March 17 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “[Dr. Swift’s Journal to Stella.] Letter XVII.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift...

Noun (2)

well-wisher (plural well-wishers)

  1. (nonce-word, rare) Someone who makes a wish at a wishing well.
    • They strolled on and passed a smiling man standing by the Village wishing well. "Well," said the well-wisher. Ah … must be the Village idiot.2008, Alan Pinkett, chapter 12, in Utta Drivel Too, [S.l.]: [Lulu.com], published 2015, →ISBN, page 45
    • "I'll put a removable lid on it [a wishing well]," he assured her. "That way, it'll be safe for the nippers, but accessible to, um, well wishers. Have a wish in mind, Bree?"2014, Nancy Atherton, chapter 7, in Aunt Dimity & the Wishing Well (Aunt Dimity series; 19), London: Headline Publishing Group, →ISBN, page 67

well-wisher meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Urdu and Bengali

well-wisher in Hindi

someone who extends good wishes to someone else
शुभेच्छु śubhecchu, शुभचिंतक śubhcintak, हितार्थी hitārthī, हितार्थ hitārth, हितचिंतक hitcintak

well-wisher in Tamil

someone who extends good wishes to someone else
வேண்டியவன் vēṇṭiyavaṉ

well-wisher in Urdu

someone who extends good wishes to someone else
خیر خواہ xair-xvāh, xair-xāh

well-wisher in Bengali

someone who extends good wishes to someone else
খয়ের খাঁ khoẏer khã
More languagesFewer languages
well-wisher in Telugu
శ్రేయోభిలాషి śrēyōbhilāṣi
well-wisher in Kannada
ನಲ್ಬಯಕೆಯವನು, ಶುಭಾಕಾಂಕ್ಷಿ, ಹಿತಕಾರಿ, ಹಿತೈಷಿ
well-wisher in Gujarati
હિતેચ્છુ hitecchu
well-wisher in Sanskrit
हितैषिन् hitaiṣin

Examples of well-wisher in a sentence

  • Already a J72 0-6-0T has been promised by a well-wisher and will be re-painted in North Eastern Railway livery.1962 August, “Society Column: Keighley & Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society”, in Modern Railways, Shepperton, Surrey: Ian Allan...
  • I'm a well-wisher, in that I don't wish you any specific harm.1997, Ken Keeler, “El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)”, in The Simpsons, season 8, episode 9, spoken by...
  • At each stopping place I stepped out of the train to chat to well-wishers.2020 January 15, Nigel Harris, “HST’s East Coast Farewell Tour”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 34:
  • Maybe I am a wishing well, / I have regular well-wishers / Throwing me a coin. / Only change they throw me / Because they don't expect to see / Any change back.2019, A. A. A. Aardvark [pseudonym; Matthew Holmes], Quit before You’re Fired, and Other Visions through Inertia, [Riverwood, N.S.W.]...

Synonyms of well-wisher

Antonyms

Forms of well-wisher

pluralwell-wishers

Origin of well-wisher

From well (“in a desirable manner; so as one could wish”, adverb) + wisher.

From well (“hole sunk into the ground as a source of water, etc.”) + wisher.

Words formed from well-wisher

Questions about well-wisher

What does well-wisher mean?
Well-wisher means someone who extends good wishes, or expresses sympathy, to someone else.
What is well-wisher in Hindi?
Well-wisher in Hindi is शुभेच्छु (śubhecchu), शुभचिंतक (śubhcintak), हितार्थी (hitārthī). See Well-wisher meaning in Hindi.
How do you use well-wisher in a sentence?
Already a J72 0-6-0T has been promised by a well-wisher and will be re-painted in North Eastern Railway livery.
What part of speech is well-wisher?
Well-wisher is a noun.
How do you pronounce well-wisher?
Well-wisher is pronounced /ˈwɛlˌwɪʃə/ (UK).
What is the plural of well-wisher?
The plural of well-wisher is well-wishers.

Words near well-wisher in the dictionary

  1. well-willer
  2. well-willers
  3. well-willing
  4. well-wish
  5. well-wished
  6. well-wisher
  7. well-wishers
  8. well-wishes
  9. well-wishing
  10. well-wishings
  11. well-wooded

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: well-wisher (page history and authors); well-wisher (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); हितैषिन् (Sanskrit) (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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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-well-wisher.wav.

Cite this entry: “well-wisher.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/well-wisher. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.