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What is the word that describes an act that was meant to be an act of kindness/helpful, but ironically has not been helpful at all.

I know the word, but it's totally gone out of my head, and I cannot for the life of me remember it.

A few examples:

  • Hanging out the washing for someone trying to do them a favour, but hanging it incorrectly so it's not going to dry that well.

  • Doing the dishes for Mum after she's cooked you tea, but you put something non dish washer safe in the dish washer.

  • Mowing the lawns for your Grandma, but the mower was too short and has now killed the grass.

  • You told your wife you'd do the washing for her, which she was so thankful for, but you put the towels in with the clothes, and she wasn't too happy about that.

I KNOW there is a word, but I just am absolutely stumped. Any help?!

Edwin Ashworth
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George
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    "Well-intentioned" is one possibility. – JEL Sep 03 '15 at 03:59
  • Hmmm I see where you're coming from and it is along those lines, but that wasn't the word it was, thank you though – George Sep 03 '15 at 04:09
  • How about "well-meaning"? – JEL Sep 03 '15 at 04:10
  • Hmm also along the same lines, but not the word I was after, I think it was a single word. – George Sep 03 '15 at 04:22
  • Are you looking for counterproductive? – Autoresponder Sep 03 '15 at 04:56
  • 'Backfire': "I mowed the lawn for granny, but my helpfulness backfired because the mower was set too short and the grass died." If not that, can you supply a sentence where the missing word is indicated with, for example, underlining (_______)? – JEL Sep 03 '15 at 04:59
  • "Goodwill" is a possibility, but doesn't necessarily imply a mistake or a failure. In that respect, I prefer "well-intentionned". – Graffito Sep 03 '15 at 08:43
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    "The best of intentions..." – Hot Licks Sep 03 '15 at 12:59
  • Ahhh I'll never find this word :'(. It's a word defining the action of what happened. It's a word for the action itself. It is along the line of backfired, but to say something backfired, it's more of a verb, my original word I knew was an adjective, one word that described the situation. – George Sep 03 '15 at 20:30
  • @George, bungle or a synonym? – stevesliva Sep 04 '15 at 01:28
  • A possible one word solution, might be counterproductive otherwise mixed blessings suggests that something was good and bad simultaneously. – Mari-Lou A Sep 04 '15 at 06:33

2 Answers2

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I also have the feeling that there is a single word that perfectly fits this meaning. I don't think this is it but it might suit you: maybe...backfired?

I was trying to do something nice for my Mom but the whole thing backfired.

Alex
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This might be stronger than you intended:

"Kill them with kindness implies that by being kind, you purposely or inadvertently annoy, exact revenge, irritate or encourage a particular behavior in a person. People often use this method of conflict resolution when they feel frustrated by other attempts to resolve an issue, feel powerless in a situation, don't know how to express difficult emotions or they want to avoid pressuring overtly."

Read more : http://www.ehow.com/info_8433153_ways-kill-someone-kindness.html

aparente001
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