wellish

English

Etymology

well +‎ -ish

Adjective

wellish (comparative more wellish, superlative most wellish)

1. Somewhat well; reasonable; adequate.
   • 1849, Lacy's Acting Edition of Plays, Dramas, Farces and Extravagances, page 25:

     Come, I say, old boy, you are going it strongish: rot me, if the garden wasn't pretty wellish.

   • 1933, Samuel Ernest N. Nicholas, Commercial Ceylon, page 295:

     Knowing human nature as we do we can safely prophesy that the State Council will merrily go its round of life in spite of the distant rumblings of the Boycott war-cry from the rather wellish dry North

   • 2005, Lord Henry Cockburn Cockburn, Alan S. Bell, Lord Cockburn: Selected Letters, page 111:

     Sermon being done, how are you? All wellish here.

   • 2006, Theatre Record, page 139:

     All might be well, or wellish, if Bill Bryden 's production had more tension and emotional intensity.

2. Somewhat well; in okay but not great health.
   • 1980, Sir Edward Goschen, Christopher Henry Durham Howard, The diary of Edward Goschen, 1900-1914, page 205:

     The Emperor looked wellish but a bad colour.

   • 2003, Robert Frost, Edward Thomas, Matthew Spencer, Elected Friends: Robert Frost & Edward Thomas to One Another:

     Sometimes I feel wellish here, sometimes very bad; never well, I never can be well again without the miracle.

   • 2016, Norman Sherry, The Life of Graham Greene Volume 1: 1904-1939:

     The operation went without difficulty and two days later he was longing for the simple pleasures of life: 'I am feeling quite wellish & am longing for some sausages & mashed [potatoes] – which I shan't get';

Adverb

wellish (comparative more wellish, superlative most wellish)

1. Somewhat well; in a fairly satisfactory manner.
   • 1885, Henry Ward Beecher, The Christian Union - Volume 31, page 28:

     He knew his letters pretty wellish, but no more.

   • 2014, Skylar Dorset, The Girl Who Read the Stars:

     “Fine,” I relent. “Yes. It's going wellish.”

   • 2019, Anita Swanson Speake, Heartsong: Living with a Dying Heart: A Memoir:

     Prior to that day, everything I had tried on my healing journey hadn't worked very well or had only worked “wellish” enough.