chaotic good

adjective

Of a character: having an alignment that is chaotic (tending to disregard the laws and conventions of society) and good (not doing evil acts).

Meanings

adjectivechaotic good (comparative more chaotic good, superlative most chaotic good)

comparative more chaotic good · superlative most chaotic good

  1. roleplaying gamesOf a character: having an alignment that is chaotic (tending to disregard the laws and conventions of society) and good (not doing evil acts).
  2. InternetbroadlyDoing or being good in a very unexpected, offbeat, or unconventional manner.

    20222022 was a strange time for video games. I've already taken to calling it "the chaotic-good year" of releases.

    2022 December 22, Mike Mahardy, “How Bloodborne paved the way for one of 2022's breakout hits”, in Polygon, archived from the original on 10 Feb 2023
    4 more examples

    Cups are firmly chaotic good; they're good for the environment, but you can't use them without getting covered in your own blood.

    2019 December 16, Katie Way, “What was the Worst Wellness Trend of the 2010s?”, in VICE, archived from the original on 15 May 2023

    But if influencers can't help but self-promote, even in the cringiest of times, perhaps it's a little better that they now are also actually raising money? Hey, I'm not saying this "chaotic good" scenario is, well, good. But it exists. And it's not the worst thing that's ever happened.

    2020 January 10, Tanya Chen, “I Roughly Calculated The Cost Of This Lifestyle Blogger's Beautiful, Outrageous Master Bathroom Decor”, in BuzzFeed News, archived from the original on 30 May 2023

    Like draft day for a suffering sports team, our response to the pandemic represents a rebuild opportunity, and many commentators—see: a recent piece at Politico featuring the predictions of 34 "big thinkers"—are casting the aftershocks of coronavirus as potentially chaotic good.

    2020 March 29, Josh Wilbur, “This Is the 'Cozy Catastrophe' Americans Have Always Wanted”, in Wired, San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 06 Jun 2023

    On Monday — in what is perhaps the most chaotic good energy we've felt in a long time — McDonald's announced that the company is partnering with BTS, the world-renowned Korean band, for its next celebrity meal.

    2021 April 20, Danielle Campoamor, “The BTS x McDonald's Collab Is Pure Chaotic Good”, in Refinery29, archived from the original on 21 Jul 2023
nounchaotic good (uncountable)
  1. uncountableChaotic good things or attitudes generally.

    Her visual choices are part of the plot too: between the anime references, her love for roller skating (which has made her famous on TikTok) and a head full of two-toned braids, Esty's aesthetic is a kind of punk dembow, her own little slice of chaotic good.

    2022 February 25, Jon Pareles, “Florence + the Machine's Conflicted Coronation, and 12 More New Songs”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2022
Cite this entry
APA

chaotic good. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chaotic%20good

MLA

“chaotic good.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chaotic%20good. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chaotic good,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chaotic%20good.

Source: chaotic good on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.