Meanings
- alternativeAlternative form of for goodness' sake.
Therefore, for goodneſs’s ſake, and as you are known / The firſt and happieſt hearers of the town, / Be ſad, as we would make ye: […]
1799 [1613], William Shakespeare, “Prologue”, in King Henry VIII. A Tragedy, […], Harding’s edition, volume VIII […], London: […] E. Harding, […]; published in The Plays of William Shakespeare, London: […] T. Bentley, […] for Vernor and Hood, […], 1800, →OCLC2 more examples
When you see a young man depending solely for his reputation and standing in society, upon the wealth of his rich father or other relations, don’t marry him, for goodness’s sake; he will make a poor husband.
1829 November 3, “How to Choose a Good Husband”, in Ladies’ Miscellany, volume I, number 45, Salem, Mass.: […] Register Press, →OCLC, page 178, column 2And how accidental could it be that X-RATED is right there, dangling, so to speak, from that SEXCAPADE that started us off? This is The New York Times, for goodness’s sake. You should be ashamed of yourself.
2011 August 26, Deb Amlen, “Saturday: Like Bending Over Backward”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 22 Nov 2011
Cite this entry
for goodness's sake. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20goodness's%20sake
“for goodness's sake.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20goodness's%20sake. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “for goodness's sake,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/for%20goodness's%20sake.
Source: for goodness's sake on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.