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Glite Dictionary
to do well by

to do well by

1 5.0
Treat someone with respect and kindness
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : tratar bien a
  • The teacher aims to do well by her students by offering them guidance and encouragement.
  • did well by the company

Examples

  • He always tries to do well by his family, providing them with love and support.

  • General Stuart did well by you, sir.

    Gods and Generals (2003)

  • And if somebody is not doing well by you, it means they're not able to.

  • He'll do well by us all, Gerard.

    White Squall (1996)

  • He wants to do well by people.

    Blog text (8)

  • There are a lot of parents in much worse straits trying to do well by their kids who would have made a much more interesting interview.

    Blog text (10)

  • And there've been plenty of successful clubs who've done done well by doing that.

  • If you want to do well by your friends, make sure to listen to their needs.

Synonyms

to do right by
vsto do well by
40 5.4

Treat someone fairly and give them support

is more about personal respect kindness and considerate behavior
to treat like royalty
vsto do well by
  • Informal
5 3.9

Give someone very special care and attention like a king or queen

is less intense meaning normal respect and kindness

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to mistreat
63 2.9

To be cruel to people or animals

How Kindly

to pamper
42 3.7
to do well by
1 5.0
to ill-treat
  • NSFW
5.2

Surface Forms

do well by infinitive
did well by past
done well by past participle
doing well by present participle
does well by third person singular

Morphology

do + well + by

The components 'do' (act) and 'well' (in a good or beneficial manner) give a clear positive valence, so learners can partially infer that something good is being done. However, the prepositional frame 'by' encoding the beneficiary/recipient relationship and the idiomatic phrasing 'do well by someone' (meaning 'treat or act to someone's benefit') is not fully predictable from the parts and likely requires exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Do well by may come from a simple image: you do things that make someone well or better off, acting toward them to help or protect them. That's why it now means 'to treat someone with kindness or fairness'.