good-cop/bad-cop

A form of good cop bad cop — A psychological tactic used for interrogation, involving one police officer playing the role of intimidating adversary, and another that of friend with whom the subject is encouraged to bond.

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Meanings

noungood-cop/bad-cop (uncountable)
  1. alternativeuncountableAlternative form of good cop bad cop.

    Apparently Ben was playing good-cop/bad-cop all by himself.

    1991, Andrea Edwards, Starting Over, Silhouette, →ISBN
    5 more examples

    Imagine the grownups play good-cop/bad-cop with real guns & mean it.

    1981, Ronald Silliman, Tjanting, Figures

    Mr. K always smiles, and Ms. V always frowns. Are they playing good-cop/bad-cop?

    1984, Fantasy & Science Fiction

    My guess was that Parnell was playing good-cop/bad-cop, and was being the bad cop. Tony Mack, being an ex-cop himself, caught on and played along.

    1989, Loren D. Estleman, Robert J. Randisi, L. J. Washburn, Ed Gorman, The Black Moon, →ISBN

    If she was annoyed that they had tricked her into driving Logan back to Little Rock from the rally, then she wouldn’t be thrilled about her two brothers playing good-cop/bad-cop to find out the guy’s intentions.

    1992, Sally Falcon, Stolen Kisses, Kismet, →ISBN

    It had gone like that all night, until well after midnight, the boys playing good-cop/bad-cop or using whatever means they had to put out the fires.

    1996, Joseph Mauro, Al Franken Is a Bucktoothed Moron—And Other Observations: The Right Strikes Back!, →ISBN
Cite this entry
APA

good-cop/bad-cop. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good-cop%2Fbad-cop

MLA

“good-cop/bad-cop.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good-cop%2Fbad-cop. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “good-cop/bad-cop,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/good-cop%2Fbad-cop.

Source: good-cop/bad-cop on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.