Meanings
- second or third personExpressing pity, commiseration, or benediction (in a literally or figuratively religious way).
God help him, he's just trying to stay afloat.
3 more examples
Well, you certainly tried your best, God help you.
God help yon poor pale girl, who droops forlorn, / And meekly her affliction doth endure; / God help her, outcast lamb; she trembling stands, / All wan her lips, and frozen red her hands; […]
1848, Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell, Mary Barton‘[…]But we want to be a bit more experimental than that. We want to retain our pop sensibilities, but kind of stretch them a bit.’ God help us. ‘Sounds great.’
1995, Nick Hornby, High Fidelity, London: Victor Gollancz, →ISBN, page 143Synonyms: heaven help someone, God love someone
- second or third personExpressing a threat or a warning to the person who violates some rule or condition. (The implication is that something so bad will happen, such as the speaker punishing the other person or a disaster ensuing, that the other person will need God's protection from that wrath or calamity.)
God help you
4 more examples
God help them
God help you if you break my equipment because you were acting like a bull in a china shop. [ = I'll beat your ass if you do that.]
God help you if you set sail in this weather. [ = You'll be lucky to survive if you do that.]
“God help anyone who touches wine destined for Amram's lips!” Eliazar laughed as he lifted the skins on the cart to reach for a piece of bread to chew as he walked.
2011, Simon Perry, All Who Came Before, page 60Synonyms: heaven help someone
- first personAn expression of astonishment, dismay, bemusement, or a jocular hint of any of those.
God help me
5 more examples
Near-synonyms: lawdamercy; Jesus Christ; Jesus, Mary and Joseph; Lord love a duck
God help us
God help us! They're actually going to run an AI arms race without bothering to agree a framework for AI safety first.
They might just have the tiger by the tail, God help us.
I'm going to have a go, God help me. Wish me luck.
Synonyms: heaven help someone, lawdamercy, Jesus Christ, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Lord love a duck
Synonyms & antonyms
interjectionExpressing pity, commiseration, or benediction (in a literally or figuratively religious way).
interjectionExpressing a threat or a warning to the person who violates some rule or condition. (The implication is that something so bad will happen, such as the speaker punishing the other person or a disaster ensuing, that the other person will need God's protection from that wrath or calamity.)
interjectionAn expression of astonishment, dismay, bemusement, or a jocular hint of any of those.
Origin
Compare Old English God helpe sumes mannes.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Swedish Gud nåde någon, Gud nåde någon
- Gud nåde någonpity or commiseration
- Gud nåde någonthreat
Cite this entry
God help someone. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/God%20help%20someone
“God help someone.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/God%20help%20someone. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “God help someone,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/God%20help%20someone.
Source: God help someone on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.