well-being

noun

a good or satisfactory condition of existence; a state characterized by health, happiness, and prosperity; welfare:

to influence the well-being of the nation and its people.

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Word History and Origins

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Compare Meanings

How does well-being compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

wellness vs. well-being

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

A PG&E statement provided to The Times said: “We understand that the safety and well-being of our community is of utmost importance.”

"Daniel will continue his touring commitments until December 2025, but he has realised that he needs to step back and focus on his health and well-being."

Vasquez, an immigrant from Oaxaca, said it is unjust that his family’s well-being is at risk, while guest workers are being provided with quality housing.

And I had to do the hard work of making sure that I could sustain this financially; that I could handle this on a safety level, even both physical and mental well-being.

Regardless of how having more babies impacts the environment or the economy, the responsibility of our collective well-being often falls on women’s bodies.

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More About Well Being

What does well-being mean?

The well-being of someone or something is its welfare or overall condition or state of health. A high level of well-being means that the overall condition is healthy and positive.

Well-being can also refer to a specific aspect of one’s health, and it is often preceded by words like mental, physical, emotional, spiritual, and the like. Well-being is most often applied to people and communities but it can also be applied to things, especially organizations or institutions, such as a nation, economy, or educational system. It is sometimes spelled without the hyphen (well being) or as one word (wellbeing).

Example: I hate to call out sick so close to my deadline, but I’m trying to prioritize my well-being instead of constantly pushing myself.

Where does well-being come from?

The first records of well-being come from before the 1600s. Since its earliest use, it has referred to an ongoing condition of health or welfare. That ongoingness is indicated by the fact that being is a gerund—the continuous (-ing) form of a verb (in this case, be) that functions as a noun. The same construction is seen in the (much less commonly used) opposite of well-being: ill-being.

A state of well-being is a state of being well. Close synonyms for well-being are wellness and welfare. But while wellness is often used in the context of physical and mental health, and welfare generally refers to safety or prosperity, well-being is often used generally to refer to an overall state or an overall state of mind. When you say you’re trying to maintain your overall well-being, it means you’re doing what you can to stay healthy, safe, comfortable, and happy. Sometimes, though, well-being is discussed in terms of a more specific aspect of one’s overall state, such as one’s mental, physical, or emotional well-being.

Well-being can also be applied to systems or other entities, as in Having an accountant will help the well-being of your business or The economic well-being of the country is on the decline.

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How is well-being used in real life?

Well-being is most commonly used in the discussion of people’s mental and physical health, but it can be applied in many different contexts.

Even 15 minutes of time in the forest has been scientifically proven to improve your mental and physical well-being. https://t.co/5CWHfjp5Lg

— JSOnline – NewsWatch (@js_newswatch) March 27, 2020

Being outside all day today did wonders to my overall well-being

— madison (@madisonleslie_) March 25, 2020

Economic well-being affects a child’s education achievement in multiple ways. Studies have shown that a family’s socioeconomic status positively contributes not only towards a child’s educational attainment, but towards their academic performance as well??https://t.co/bEzinHO2PC

— Global Education Monitoring Report UNESCO (@GEMReport) March 27, 2020

Try using well-being!

Is well-being used correctly in the following sentence? 

Studies have shown that spending time outside can significantly improve one’s overall sense of well-being.

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