Word.ws English Dictionary

with the best will in the world

with the best will in the world prepositional phrase: even with an optimistic and charitable outlook; used to indicate the intractability of a problem.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (UK) Even with an optimistic and charitable outlook; used to indicate the intractability of a problem.
    • Through the 1980s and 1990s it did not train Persian speakers, and eventually those with language and country experience aged and retired, leaving a gap that, with the best will in the world, will take at least a decade to fill.2009, Daniel Brumberg, Dina Shehata, Conflict, Identity, and Reform in the Muslim World
    • With the best will in the world, I find it very difficult to explain how these official sources might have been subverted to falsify information, peddle untruths or generally seek to play games with the general public […]2012, Jonathon Porritt, Capitalism as if the World Matters, page 4

Questions about with the best will in the world

What does with the best will in the world mean?
With the best will in the world means even with an optimistic and charitable outlook; used to indicate the intractability of a problem.
What part of speech is with the best will in the world?
With the best will in the world is a prepositional phrase.

Words near with the best will in the world in the dictionary

  1. with regards to
  2. with respect
  3. with respect to
  4. with the best
  5. with the best of them
  6. with the best will in the world
  7. with the exception of
  8. with the Lord
  9. with the manner
  10. with the passage of time
  11. with the passing of time

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: with the best will in the world (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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