Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Definition: Well Enough |
Well EnoughAdverb1. In a tolerable manner; "she did it well enough". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Synonyms: Well EnoughSynonyms: to a tolerable degree (adv), to an adequate degree (adv), tolerably (adv). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Caution | Think twice, look before one leaps, count the cost, look to the main chance, cut one's coat according to one's cloth; feel one's ground, feel one's way; see how the land lies; (foresight); wait to see how the cat jumps; bridle one's tongue; reculer pour mieux sauter; (prepare); let well alone, let well enough alone; let sleeping dogs lie, ne pas reveiller le chat qui dort. |
Content | Verb: be content; Adjective: rest satisfied, rest and be thankful; take the good the gods provide, let well alone, let well enough alone, feel oneself at home, hug oneself, lay the flattering unction to one's soul. |
Imperfection | Indifferent, middling, ordinary, mediocre; average; so-so; coucicouci, milk and water; tolerable, fair, passable; pretty well, pretty good; rather good, moderately good; good; good enough, well enough, adequate; decent; not bad, not amiss; inobjectionable, unobjectionable, admissible, bearable, only better than nothing. |
Inaction | Verb: not do, not act, not attempt; be inactive; abstain from doing, do nothing, hold, spare; not stir, not move, not lift a finger, not lift a foot, not lift a peg; fold one's arms, fold one's hands; leave alone, let alone; let be, let pass, let things take their course, let it have its way, let well alone, let well enough alone; quieta non movere; stare super antiquas vias; rest and be thankful, live and let live; lie rest upon one's oars; laisser aller, faire; stand aloof; refrain; (avoid) keep oneself from doing; remit one's efforts, relax one's efforts; desist; (relinquish); stop; (cease); pause; (be quiet). |
Smallness | Adverb: to a small extent, on a small scale; a little bit, a wee bit; slightly; Adjective: imperceptibly; miserably, wretchedly; insufficiently; imperfectly; faintly; passably, pretty well, well enough. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Well Enough |
| English words defined with "well enough": know. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "well enough": Acquaintance, Advice ♦ Bobbit ♦ half-way house, Halfway Houses. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Knew him well enough not to mourn his passing (Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles; writing credit: Anne Rice) I find it works well enough to get me from one planet to another. (The Day the Earth Stood Still; writing credit: Harry Bates; Edmund H. North) I don't think you know me well enough to call me 'Nuerotic Guy'. (Flirting with Disaster; writing credit: David O. Russell) You knew me well enough to go to bed with me. (Ally McBeal; writing credit: Henri Vernes) If you are well enough to do that, can you work for me? (Witness; writing credit: William Kelley; Earl W. Wallace) | |
Lyrics | Just leave well enough alone (Dirty Laundry; performing artist: Don Henley) An sometimes I don't know why this old world can't leave well enough alone (Angry All The Time; performing artist: Tim McGraw) | |
Clever | Acquaintance: A person whom we know well enough to borrow from, but not well enough to lend to. (references; author: unknown) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Leave Well Enough Alone (1939) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | ![]() | She might be angry now, for all he knew. He concluded to let well enough alone. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
William Congreve | 'Tis well enough for a servant to be bred at an University. But the education is a little too pedantic for a gentleman. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
John Locke | 1690 | And though this federative power in the well or ill management of it be of great moment to the common-wealth, yet it is much less capable to be directed by antecedent, standing, positive laws, than the executive; and so must necessarily be left to the prudence and wisdom of those, whose hands it is in, to be managed for the public good: for the laws that concern subjects one amongst another, being to direct their actions, may well enough precede them. (Second Treatise of Government) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Sylvie and Bruno | Carroll, Lewis | I could go to him, by myself, well enough. |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | He knew Greek well enough to enjoy the peculiarities of the text which he possessed. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | A person with Alzheimer's disease, for example, may not think well enough to plan a timely trip to a restroom. (references) | |
How Will I Feel During Chemotherapy?Most people receiving chemotherapy find that they tire easily, but many feel well enough to continue to lead active lives. (references) | ||
Excluding children with colds or other respiratory illnesses (without fever) who are well enough to attend child care or school settings will probably not decrease the spread of HPIVs, because the viruses are often spread in the early stages of illness. (references) | ||
Worker Rights | United Kingdom | Many victims are unwilling to come forward, due to fears of retribution from traffickers, fear of being deported or abused by authorities, or because they cannot speak English well enough. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | ADVICE, n. The smallest current coin. "The man was in such deep distress," Said Tom, "that I could do no less Than give him good advice." Said Jim: "If less could have been done for him I know you well enough, my son, To know that's what you would have done." Jebel Jocordy |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Woodrow Wilson | 1913-1921 | We remembered well enough that we had set up a policy which was meant to serve the humblest as well as the most powerful, with an eye single to the standards of justice and fair play, and remembered it with pride. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Expression using "well enough": let well enough alone. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
leave well enough alone | 3 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "well enough"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | отлично (capitally, excellently, famously, fine, first rate, par excellence, perfectly, perfectly well, primely, to perfection). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | at sikre spraenghullets fordaemning, hvorved det kan modstaa virkningen fra spraengningen (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | de afdichtingsprop van een schietgat dient zodanig te zijn,dat hij bestand is tegen de belasting van het afgevuurde schot (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | assurer une étanchéité du trou d'injection telle qu'elle peut résister aux effets provoqués par le tir des mines (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | die Traenkbohrlochabdichtung so widerstandsfaehig gestalten,dass sie den Belastungen der Schiessarbeit standhaelt (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | να στεγανοποιηθεί ικανοποιητικά το διάτρημα έγχυσης έτσι ώστε να μπορεί ν'αντισταθεί στις δονήσεις που προκαλούνται από την εξόρυξη (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | realizzare una impermeabilizzazione del foro d'iniezione tale che possa resistere alla sollecitazione provocata dal tiro di mine (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 結構 (architecture, construction, delicious, nice, splendid, sweet, tolerably, wonderful). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | けっ"う (architecture, cancellation of lecture or class, carrying out, circulation, construction, delicious, doing, nice, splendid, suspension of service, sweet, tolerably, wonderful). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | mie dy liooar (goodish, OK). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | ellway enoughay garantir uma entanqueidade do furo de injecção tal que resista aos efeitos dos disparos (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) destul de bine (fairly well, not so dusty). (various references) Asegurar la estanqueidad del barreno de inyección de modo que pueda resistir los efectos provocados por la pega de cargas. (to seal the infusion borehole well enough to withstand the effects of shotfiring). (various references) yeterince iyi (good enough), pekâla (jolly well), oldukça (a bit of a, a good many, a whale of, fairly, good, pretty, quite, rather, reasonably, somewhat, spanking, substantially, well, whopping), iyi (agreeable, all right, alright, b, comfortable, decent, decently, fair, fine, good, gratifying, great, happy, just, kind, o.k., ok, okay, sound, well). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | satis. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-g-h-l-l-n-o-u-w" | |
-3 letters: eugenol. | |
-4 letters: enough, lounge, lungee, unwell. | |
-5 letters: ghoul, gluon, hello, hullo, leone, longe, lough, lunge, newel, ngwee, wheel, wheen, whole. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Images: Photo Album 6. Quotations: Familiar 7. Quotations: Historic 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Quotations: Speeches 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Anagrams 16. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.