English
good
see also: Good
Pronunciation
    • (RP) IPA: /ɡʊd/
    • (America, New Zealand) IPA: /ɡʊd/, [ɡʊ̈d], [ɡɪ̈d]
    • (Australia) IPA: /ɡʊd/, [ɡʊd], [ɡud]
    • (Scotland, NI) IPA: /ɡʉd/
  • (AAVE) enPR: go͝o(d), IPA: /ɡʊ(d)/
Etymology 1

Cognate with Russian го́дный, год, "year", via "suitable time".

Related to gather and together, but not to god/God.

Eclipsed non-native Middle English bon, bone, boon, boun borrowed from Old French bon (“good”), from Latin bonus (“good”).

Adjective

good (comparative better, superlative best)

  1. (of people or animals)
    1. Acting in the interest of what is beneficial, ethical, or moral.
      good intentions
      • c. 1525, The Example of Euyll Tongues ↗, page a3 rectoː
        Yf ony man wolde begynne his synnes to reny / Or ony good people that fro vyce dyde refrayne / What so euer he were that to vertue wolde applye / But an yll tonge wyll all ouer throwe agayne
        If any man would begin to renounce his sins, / Or any good people who refrained from vice, / Whatsoever he who wished to apply himself to virtue might be, / Still an ill tongue would overthrow it all again.
      • 1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 6, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London, New York, N.Y., Melbourne, Vic.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC ↗:
        When we are happy, we are always good, but when we are good, we are not always happy.
    2. Competent or talented.
      a good swimmer
      • 2016, [https://web.archive.org/web/20170918070146/https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/lets-learn-english-lesson-3-i-am-here/3126527.html VOA Learning English] (public domain)
        And Marsha says I am a good cook!
    3. Able to be depended on for the discharge of obligations incurred; of unimpaired credit; used with for.
      Can you lend me fifty dollars? You know I'm good for it.
    4. Well-behaved (especially of children or animals).
      Be good while your mother and I are out.
      Were you a good boy for the babysitter?
    5. (US) Satisfied or at ease; not requiring more.
      Would you like a glass of water? — I'm good.
      [Are] you good? — Yeah, I'm fine.
      Gimme another beer! — I think you're good.
    6. (colloquial, with with) Accepting of, OK with
      My mother said she's good with me being alone with my date as long as she's met them first.
      The soup is rather spicy. Are you good with that, or would you like something else?
    7. (archaic) Of high rank or birth.
      • 1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The life and death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i], page 23 ↗, columns 1–2:
        Thou art a Traitor, and a Miſcreant;
        Too good to be ſo, and too bad to liue,
        Since the more faire and chriſtall is the skie,
        The vglier ſeeme the cloudes that in it flye:
  2. (of capabilities)
    1. Useful for a particular purpose; functional.
      it’s a good watch;  the flashlight batteries are still good
      • 1526, Herball ↗ː
        Against cough and scarceness of breath caused of cold take the drink that it hath been sodden in with Liquorice[,] or that the powder hath been sodden in with dry figs[,] for the same the electuary called dyacalamentum is good[,] and it is made thus.
    2. Effective.
      a good worker
      • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC ↗; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC ↗, page 0091 ↗:
        There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
    3. (obsolete) Real; actual; serious.
      in good sooth
      • c. 1598–1600 (date written), William Shakespeare, “As You Like It”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene ii]:
        Love no man in good earnest.
  3. (properties and qualities)
    1. (of food)
      1. Having a particularly pleasant taste.
        The food was very good.
      2. Being satisfying; meeting dietary requirements.
        Eat a good dinner so you will be ready for the big game tomorrow.
    2. Of food or other perishable products, still fit for use; not yet expired, stale, rotten, etc.
      The bread is still good.
    3. Valid, of worth, capable of being honoured.
      This coupon is good for a free doughnut.
    4. True, valid, of explanatory strength.
      This theory still holds good even if much higher temperatures are assumed.
    5. Right, proper, as it should be.
      • 15th c., “[The Creation]”, in Wakefield Mystery Plays; Re-edited in George England, Alfred W. Pollard, editors, The Towneley Plays (Early English Text Society Extra Series; LXXI), London: […] Oxford University Press, 1897, →OCLC ↗, page 6 ↗, lines 184–185:
        It is not good to be alone, / to walk here in this worthely wone, / In all this welthly wyn;
        It is not good to be alone / to walk here in this noble dwelling-place / in all this rich delight.
      • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC ↗, Canto XXIV, page 41 ↗:
        If all was good and fair we met,
        ⁠This earth had been the Paradise
        ⁠It never look’d to human eyes
        Since Adam left his garden yet.
    6. Healthful.
      Exercise and a varied diet are good for you.
    7. Pleasant; enjoyable.
      We had a good time.
    8. Favourable.
      a good omen;  good weather
      • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
        Not unnaturally, “Auntie” took this communication in bad part. […] Next day she […] tried to recover her ward by the hair of the head. Then, thwarted, the wretched creature went to the police for help; she was versed in the law, and had perhaps spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.
    9. Unblemished; honourable.
      a person's good name
    10. Beneficial; worthwhile.
      a good job
    11. Adequate; sufficient; not fallacious.
      • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act I, scene i]:
        My reasons are both good and weighty.
  4. (colloquial, when with and) Very, extremely. See good and.
    The soup is good and hot.
  5. (colloquial) Ready.
    I'm good when you are.
    The reports are good to go.
  6. Holy (especially when capitalized) .
    Good Friday, Good Wednesday, the Good Book
  7. (of quantities)
    1. Reasonable in amount.
      all in good time
    2. Large in amount or size.
      a good while longer
      a good number of seeds
      A good part of his day was spent shopping.
      It will be a good while longer until he's done.
      He's had a good amount of troubles, he has.
      • 1909, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter III, in The Squire’s Daughter, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead and Company, published 1919, →OCLC ↗:
        The big houses, and there are a good many of them, lie for the most part in what may be called by courtesy the valleys. You catch a glimpse of them sometimes at a little distance from the [railway] line, which seems to have shown some ingenuity in avoiding them, […].
    3. Full; entire; at least as much as.
      This hill will take a good hour and a half to climb.  The car was a good ten miles away.
      • 1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC ↗, page 16 ↗:
        Athelstan Arundel walked home all the way, foaming and raging. No omnibus, cab, or conveyance ever built could contain a young man in such a rage. His mother lived at Pembridge Square, which is four good measured miles from Lincoln's Inn.
Synonyms Antonyms
  • (antonym(s) of “having positive attributes”): bad, poor
  • (antonym(s) of “ethical”): bad, evil
Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Interjection
  1. That is good; an elliptical exclamation of satisfaction or commendation.
    Good! I can leave now.
Translations Adverb

good (comparative better, superlative best)

  1. (nonstandard) Well; satisfactorily or thoroughly.
    The boy done good.
    • 2007 April 19, Jimmy Wales, “Jimmy Wales on the User-Generated Generation”, Fresh Air, WHYY, Pennsylvania [https://web.archive.org/web/20070423020137/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9683874]
      The one thing that we can't do...is throw out the baby with the bathwater.... We know our process works pretty darn good and, uh, it’s really sparked this amazing phenomenon of this...high-quality website.
Noun

good

  1. (uncountable) The forces or behaviours that are the enemy of evil. Usually consists of helping others and general benevolence.
    • 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC ↗:
      And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them. Soft heartedness caused more harm than good.
    Antonyms: bad, evil
  2. (countable) A result that is positive in the view of the speaker.
    Antonyms: bad
  3. (uncountable) The abstract instantiation of goodness; that which possesses desirable qualities, promotes success, welfare, or happiness, is serviceable, fit, excellent, kind, benevolent, etc.
    The best is the enemy of the good.
    He is an influence for good on those girls.
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Psalms 4:6 ↗:
      There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.
  4. (countable, usually, in the plural) An item of merchandise.
    Coordinate term: service
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act IV, scene i]:
      Thy lands and goods / Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate / Unto the state of Venice.
Translations Translations Translations Verb

good (goods, present participle gooding; simple past and past participle gooded) (now, chiefly dialectal)

  1. (intransitive, now) To thrive; fatten; prosper; improve.
  2. (transitive) To make good; turn to good; improve.
  3. (intransitive) To make improvements or repairs.
  4. (intransitive) To benefit; gain.
  5. (transitive) To do good to (someone); benefit; cause to improve or gain.
  6. (transitive) To satisfy; indulge; gratify.
  7. (reflexive) To flatter; congratulate oneself; anticipate.
Etymology 5

From English dialectal, from Middle English *goden, of gmq - origin, related to Swedish göda, Danish gøde, ultimately from the adjective.

Verb

good (goods, present participle gooding; simple past and past participle gooded)

  1. (transitive, now, chiefly dialectal, Scotland) To furnish with dung; manure; fatten with manure; fertilise.
    • April 5 1628, Bishop Joseph Hall, The Blessings, Sins, and Judgments of God's Vineyard
      Nature was like itself , in it , in the world : God hath taken it in from the barren downs , and gooded it : his choice did not find , but make it thus
Etymology 6

Coined in reference to the phrase "the only good nigger is a dead nigger", a popular saying among white supremacists.

Adjective

good (not comparable)

  1. (Internet slang, offensive, ethnic slur) Of a black person, dead or killed.
Good
Etymology 1
  • As an English surname, from the adjective good.
  • Also as an English surname, from the personal name Gōde, which represents the first part of names such as Godfrey, Gottfried, etc.
  • As a German - surname, Americanized from Gut, Guth.
  • As a Dutch - surname, Americanized from Goed, Goede.
Pronunciation Proper noun
  1. Surname.
  2. An unincorporated community in Hampshire County, West Virginia.
Proper noun
  1. (philosophy) Plato's metaprinciple of proper systemic function between principles; the fundamental Platonic form which enables knowledge and metacognition, from which other concepts such as truth, justice and virtue derive meaning.


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