to make good
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To fulfil one's promises or to come up to expectations, to succeed.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to make good” mean?
To fulfil one's promises or to come up to expectations, to succeed.
Is “to make good” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.