Adjectives are words used to add detail and description to a noun. They are always grammatically related to a noun and serve to modify it or help describe it.
Usually, adjectives are easy to understand, but occasionally, they can provide some difficulty in use unless a specific context is provided. Well-heeled is the perfect example of this because it literally looks as if it relates to a part of a physical foot. However, its definition and use have nothing to do with body anatomy.
Let’s learn about what well-heeled means, where it originated, and how you can use it in speech and text.
What Is the Meaning of Well-Heeled?
A little-known definition of heeled is to be wealthy. Even though many people are unaware of this archaic use, it has been in use for well over a century and is commonly used within the compound adjective, well-heeled.
Well-heeled describes someone who is well-off, meaning they have a lot of money or that they are well provided for.
For example:
- There are certain areas in the state where the most well-heeled people live, and unless you fit a certain mold, you will have difficulty purchasing a house.
- I found it ironic that our well-heeled neighbor filed an ethics complaint about the 4th of July fireworks when she regularly kept the neighborhood in chaos with her barking dogs.
- The entire student body was affected by the university’s tuition hike, from the most well-heeled to those working multiple jobs to cover costs.
Is It Well Heeled or Well-Heeled?
Although some dictionaries even have it spelled well heeled, the correct spelling is well-heeled with a hyphen and follows the grammatical rule of adjective hyphenation. This rule states that when a compound noun consisting of a noun and a participle is used as an adjective, it must be hyphenated.
What Is Well Healed?
Well-healed makes sense in its own right, but it has nothing to do with being wealthy. Obviously, it describes someone who has healed well and is not related to being well-heeled despite its exact pronunciation and misuse in this capacity from time to time.
Synonyms for Well-Heeled
- Wealthy
- Rich
- Affluent
- Well-to-do
- Successful
- Opulent
- Well-endowed
- Well-off
- Deep-pocketed
- Prosperous
- Loaded
- Comfortable
- Privileged
- Thriving
- Substantial
- Prospering
- Advantaged
Origins of Well-Heeled
Well-heeled, meaning “well-off, well-equipped or wealthy,” emerged in the late 19th century as an American slang word related to both a card player who had a good enough hand to be wealthy and a well-armed (with a firearm) man.
The origins of these definitions are both related to being well-equipped in some manner. In the first sense, it means to have enough money to enter high-stakes games and to be good enough at the game of cards to continue making money. In the second sense, it means to be comfortably armed and secure with a firearm or firearms during a time when carrying a weapon was commonplace, especially in the American West.
This second definition comes from the now obsolete definition of heeled, to mean “furnished with a gun” from the mid-19th century.
Today, the only definition of heeled in use is where it means wealthy, and it is almost never seen outside the adjectival use of well-heeled.
Let’s Review
Despite heeled being a fairly archaic word altogether, it is still commonly used in the adjective well-heeled, which means wealthy, well-off or comfortable in the sense they have enough money not to have any worries.
Well-heeled originated as an American slang word relating to both car players and well-armed individuals. In a sense, both of these uses offered an explanation of their being comfortable in their respective positions. Today, the term relates only to the comforts of financial wealth.