Meanings
plural do-gooders · alternative dogooder
- derogatoryOne who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, and often with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority.
Prohibition in the United States was an unsuccessful attempt by do-gooders to save people from the dangers of alcohol, whether they wanted to be saved or not.
2 more examples
I was hopping along, minding my own business. All of a sudden, up he comes, cures me. One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave! “You're cured mate.” Bloody do-gooder.
1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Ex-Leper (Michael Palin)That distress call we never received, it was logged with HQ. By some anonymous, piece-o'-shit do-gooder aboard this ship.
2015 November 23, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, “Dulcinea”, in The Expanse, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Captain McDowell
Synonyms & antonyms
nounsomeone devoted to the promotion of human welfare and to social reforms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Translations
Catalan bonista
- bonistaone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Czech sluníčkář, pravdoláskař
- sluníčkářone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
- pravdoláskařone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Finnish maailmanparantaja
- maailmanparantajaone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
German Gutmensch, Weltverbesserer
- Gutmenschone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
- Weltverbessererone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
- Weltverbesserinone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Hungarian jótét lélek
- jótét lélekone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Italian buonista
- buonistaone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Māori kaiauwaha
- kaiauwahaone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Norwegian Bokmål naiv idealist
- naiv idealistone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Polish dobroczyńca
- dobroczyńcaone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Portuguese cidadão de bem
- cidadão de bemone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Spanish buenista
- buenistaone who has a conviction of their own moral superiority
Cite this entry
do-gooder. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do-gooder
“do-gooder.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do-gooder. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “do-gooder,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/do-gooder.
Source: do-gooder on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.