Synonyms for do-gooder
| Grammar : Noun |
| Spell : doo-goo d-er, -goo d- |
| Phonetic Transcription : ˈduˈgʊd ər, -ˌgʊd- |
Définition of do-gooder
Origin :- "a person who seeks to correct social ills in an idealistic, but usually impractical or superficial, way," 1650s (as do-good), in "Zootomia, or Observations on the Present Manners of the English: Briefly Anatomizing the Living by the Dead. With An Usefull Detection of the Mountebanks of Both Sexes," written by Richard Whitlock, a medical doctor. Probably used even then with a taint of impractical idealism. Modern pejorative use seems to have begun on the socialist left, mocking those who were unwilling to take a hard line. OED has this citation, from "The Nation" in 1923:
- There is nothing the matter with the United States except ... the parlor socialists, up-lifters, and do-goods.
- The form do-gooder appears in American English from 1927, presumably because do-good was no longer felt as sufficiently noun-like. A slightly older word for this was goo-goo.
- noun idealist
Words or expressions associated with your search
- a good bit
- a good many
- a good way
- as good as
- be good
- be good enough
- be good enough for
- be good for
- be no good
- bill of goods
- capital goods
- damage one's good name
- damage ones good name
- damaged one's good name
- damaged ones good name
- damages ones good name
- deliver the goods
- delivered goods
- delivered the goods
- delivering goods
- delivering the goods
- delivers goods
- delivers the goods
- do-gooder
- dry goods
- durable goods
- ego goods
- fairly good
- feelgood
- feeling good
- get on good side of
- good
- good behavior
- good break
- good cheer
- good citizen
- good deed
- good egg
- good English
- good example
- good faith
- good feeling
- good-for-nothing
- good for what ails you
- good form
- good fortune
- good giver
- good grace
- good habits
- good hands
- good humor
- good-humored
- good-humoredly
- good-looker
- good luck
- good-luck piece
- good-mannered
- good-natured
- good-naturedly
- good-naturedness
- good neighbor
- good offices
- good old days
- good opinion
- good possibility
- good quality
- Good Samaritan
- good scout
- Good Shepherd
- good-sized
- good society
- good spirits
- good sum
- good taste
- good-tasting
- good-tempered
- good times
- good turn
- good vibes
- good vibrations
- good ways
- good will
- good word
- goodbye
- goodhearted
- goodie
- goodies
- goodish
- goodly
- goodness
- goods
- goodwill
- goody
- goody-goody
- goody two-shoes
- had good time
- haddest a good time
- haddest good
- haddest good time
- haddest it good
- hadst a good time
- hadst good
- hadst good time
- hard goods
- hardgoods
- has a good time
- has good
- has good time
- has it good
- hast a good time
- hast good time
- hast it good
- hath a good time
- have a good time
- have good opinion of
- have it good
- having the goods
- in good condition
- in good faith
- in good health
- in good order
- in good shape
- in good spirits
- in good taste
- in good time
- kiss good-bye
- kiss goodbye
- kissed goodbye
- kisses goodbye
- kissing goodbye
- made good
- make good
- make good indemnify
- make good use of
- making good
- making goods
- no-good
- no-goods
- no goods
- nogood
- nogoods
- not good
- not good enough
- not so good
- of good repute
- on good terms
- person good taste
- person of good taste
- put to good use
- say goodbye
- showdown between good and evil
- the goods
- very good
- was good
- was good enough
- with good grace
- yard goods
Most wanted synonyms
Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019