good

comparative better · comparative humorous nonstandard gooder · superlative best · humorous nonstandard superlative goodest · alternative pronunciation spelling gooid · alternative Internet nonstandard gud · alternative obsolete goode

1. Of a person or an animal:
   1. Acting in the interest of what is beneficial, ethical, or moral.

      good intentions

      2 more examples

      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.

      When we are happy, we are always good, but when we are good, we are not always happy.

      1891, Oscar Wilde, chapter 6, in The Picture of Dorian Gray, London; New York, N.Y.: Ward Lock & Co., →OCLC

      Synonyms: goodness

   2. Competent or talented.

      a good swimmer

      3 more examples

      Flatter him it may, I confess, (as those are generally good at flattering who are good for nothing else,) but in the meantime the poor man is left under the fatal necessity of a needless delusion

      1704, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached on Several Occasions, On the nature and measure of conscience

      Ivor had acquired more than a mile of fishing rights with the house ; he was not at all a good fisherman, but one must do something ; one generally, however, banged a ball with a squash-racket against a wall.

      1922, Michael Arlen, “3/19/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days

      And Marsha says I am a good cook!

      2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

      Synonyms: accomplished

   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).

      Were you a good boy for the babysitter?

      2 more examples

      All my life I've been good / But now I'm thinking, "What the hell"

      2011, “What the Hell”, in Goodbye Lullaby, performed by Avril Lavigne

      Be good while your mother and I are out.

   5. USSatisfied or at ease; not requiring more.

      [Are] you good? — Yeah, I'm fine.

      2 more examples

      Would you like a glass of water? — I'm good.

      Gimme another beer! — I think you're good.

   6. colloquialAccepting of, OK with

      The soup is rather spicy. Are you good with that, or would you like something else?

      1 more example

      My mother said she's good with me being alone with my date as long as she's met them first.

   7. archaicOf high rank or birth.

      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:

      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

2. Of a capability:
   1. Useful for a particular purpose; functional.

      it’s a good watch;  the flashlight batteries are still good

      2 more examples

      1526, Herballː 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.

      Plant breeding is always a numbers game.[…]The wild species we use are rich in genetic variation,[…]. In addition, we are looking for rare alleles, so the more plants we try, the better. These rarities may be new mutations, or they can be existing ones that are neutral—or are even selected against—in a wild population. A good example is mutations that disrupt seed dispersal, leaving the seeds on the heads long after they are ripe.

      2013 May-June, David Van Tassel, Lee DeHaan, “Wild Plants to the Rescue”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3

   2. Effective.

      a good worker

      1 more example

      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.

      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

   3. obsoleteReal; actual; serious.

      in good sooth

      1 more example

      Love no man in good earnest.

      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]

3. Of a property or quality:
   1. Having a particularly pleasant taste.

      The food was very good.

      Synonyms: not bad

   2. Being satisfying; meeting dietary requirements.

      Eat a good dinner so you will be ready for the big game tomorrow.

   3. Of food or other perishable products, still fit for use; not yet expired, stale, rotten, etc.

      The bread is still good.

   4. Valid, of worth, capable of being honoured.

      This coupon is good for a free doughnut.

   5. True, valid, of explanatory strength.

      This theory still holds good even if much higher temperatures are assumed.

      1 more example

      Twinnia biclavata differs from T. nova by inversion IS-1 and a nucleolar shift. Both are good species.

      1966, K. Rothfels, Margaret Freeman, “The salivary gland chromosomes of three North American species of Twinnia (Diptera: Simuliidae)”, in Canadian Journal of Zoology, volume 44, number 5, →DOI

   6. Right, proper, as it should be.

      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.

      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

      1 more example

      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.

      1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XXIV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 41

   7. Healthful.

      Exercise and a varied diet are good for you.

      Synonyms: well

   8. Pleasant; enjoyable.

      We had a good time.

   9. Favorable.

      a good omen;  good weather

      1 more example

      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 perhaps had spared no pains to keep on good terms with the local constabulary.

      1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XLIV, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC, page 361

   10. Unblemished; honourable.

       a person's good name

   11. Beneficial; worthwhile.

       a good job

   12. Adequate; sufficient; not fallacious.

       [I]f thou ask me why, / Sufficeth my reaſons are both good and waighty.

       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], page 212, column 2

4. colloquialwhen with andVery, extremely. See good and.

   The soup is good and hot.

5. colloquialReady.

   I'm good when you are.

   1 more example

   The reports are good to go.

6. Holy (especially when capitalized) .

   Good Friday, Good Wednesday, the Good Book

7. Of a quantity:
   1. Reasonable in amount.

      all in good time

   2. Large in amount or size.

      a good while longer

      5 more examples

      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.

      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,[…].

      1909 September 9, Archibald Marshall [pseudonym; Arthur Hammond Marshall], chapter III, in The Squire’s Daughter, London: Methuen & Co. […], →OCLC

   3. Full; entire; at least as much as.

      The car was a good ten miles away.

      2 more examples

      This hill will take a good hour and a half to climb.

      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.

      1892, Walter Besant, “Prologue: Who is Edmund Gray?”, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 16

8. stressed formSpecial, best, favorite.

   Shoot! A tear. And these are my good jeans.

   1 more example

   No, not that one. That's my good shirt I only wear for special occasions.

alternative pronunciation spelling gooid · alternative Internet nonstandard gud · alternative obsolete goode

1. That is good; an elliptical exclamation of satisfaction or commendation.

   Good! I can leave now.

comparative better · superlative best

1. informalproscribedsometimesflat adverbWell; satisfactorily or thoroughly.

   The boy done good.

   5 more examples

   When you're cleaning these racks, you've got to get in there good, because the quality system specifies it.

   I got in good with my new boss.

   This recipe calls for a good-sized chunk of chocolate.

   If Silvertip refuses to give you the horse, grab him before he can draw a weapon, and beat him good. You're big enough to do it.

   1906, Zane Grey, The Spirit of the Border: A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio Valley

   I kept my eyes peeled for signs of pursuit. There was none, unless I was being fooled very good.

   1970, Troy Conway, The Cunning Linguist, London: Flamingo Books, page 66

   Antonyms: bad, badly

plural goods

1. uncountableThe forces or behaviours that are the enemy of evil. Usually consists of helping others and general benevolence.

   AI engineers hold in their hands the power to do extraordinary good—closing gaps in education, unlocking medical breakthroughs, accelerating climate solutions—or, if they lose sight of the people their creations serve, to cause deep harm.

   2025 August 27, Dana Suskind, “AI Engineers Need Their Own Hippocratic Oath. Here’s What It Should Say”, in TIME, archived from the original on 30 Aug 2025

   1 more example

   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.

   1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC

   Antonyms: bad, evil

2. countableA result that is positive in the view of the speaker.

   Antonyms: bad

3. uncountableThe 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.

   3 more examples

   He is an influence for good on those girls.

   There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Psalms 4:6

   […]the government must be a weak one indeed, if it should forget that the good of the whole can only be promoted by advancing the good of each of the parts or members which compose the whole.

   1788, John Jay, The Federalist Papers, number 64

4. countableplural normallyAn item of merchandise.

   Thy lands and goods / Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate / Unto the state of Venice.

   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]

5. countableplural normallyAn article of personal property (as opposed to real property).

present singular third person goods · participle present gooding · participle past gooded · past gooded

1. dialectalintransitiveTo thrive; fatten; prosper; improve.
2. dialectaltransitiveTo make good; turn to good; improve.
3. dialectalintransitiveTo make improvements or repairs.
4. dialectalintransitiveTo benefit; gain.
5. dialectaltransitiveTo do good to (someone); benefit; cause to improve or gain.
6. dialectaltransitiveTo satisfy; indulge; gratify.
7. dialectalreflexiveTo flatter; congratulate oneself; anticipate.

present singular third person goods · participle present gooding · participle past gooded · past gooded

1. ScotlanddialectaltransitiveTo 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

1. Internetdialectalethnicnot comparableoffensiveslurOf a black person, dead or killed.

   Another evil nigger made good. I love a good news story.

   2008 October 17, Anthony X (Janet Arvizo is a disgusting liar, Tom Sneddon is a disgusting racist http://asb-comm-logic.com, “TNB: 36-year-old African American shot to death”, in alt.true-crime (Usenet)

   3 more examples

   Sow Sheeboon Savannah Jeanne Walker of Louisville, KY was made good in a shooting at cRap show called 'A Boogie With The Hoodie' Saturday night at the Tim Faulkner Art Gallery. 5 other niggers were shot and are expected to survive. No suspooks have been captured.

   2017 March 21, Rick Mathers, “6 Shitskin Boogs Shot At 'A Boogie With The Hoodie' Concert”, in alt.checkmate (Usenet)

   The usual nigger nonsense from da fambly. He beez a good daddy to his keeids (I wonder how many more keeids this useless nigger has that the media didn't tell us about.) He wuz juss mindin' his own bidness when da popo got in da way. He din do nuffins. The BLM niggers and their lovers will be chimping out for sure. LEO's already have a tough job as it is, dealing with niggers has to be the worst part of the job. I'm glad that coon was made good.

   2017 November 7, Casa de los peregrinos, “Groid rage motorist chimps out on motorist”, in soc.culture.african.american (Usenet)

   Bolsheviks have got to be in heat over this, a nigger with well over 40 arrests including violent assault is properly made good for threatening people on the subway, will the law abiding law defending hero be thrown under the bus to appease blacks [again]?

   2023 May 4, JeSSe, “White US Marine kills black felon in self defense - BLM/antifa threaten riots if he is not arrested and found guilty”, in uk.current-events.terrorism (Usenet)

   Synonyms: all right, decent, not bad, well

alternative Goode

1. A surname.

   As The New York Times reported, bystander footage filmed from several different angles shows that the agent who shot Good wasn’t in the path of her S.U.V. when he fired on her.

   2026 January 8, Michelle Goldberg, “By Killing Renee Good, ICE Sent a Message to Us All”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Jan 2026

2. An unincorporated community in Hampshire County, West Virginia.

1. human sciencesPlato'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.