Word.ws English Dictionary

for good

UK/fə ˈɡʊd//fəɹ ˈɡʊd/

for good prepositional phrase: in a way that is conclusive and final.

Prepositional phrase

  1. (idiomatic) In a way that is conclusive and final.
    • A bad haircut is no fun, but at least you’re not stuck with it for good, only until it grows out.
    • This day I left Chelsea for good (that's a genteel phrase) and am got into Suffolk street.1711 July 15 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “[Dr. Swift’s Journal to Stella.] Letter XXVI.”, in Thomas Sheridan, John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, […]...

for good meaning in Urdu, Malayalam and Vietnamese

for good in Urdu

ہمیشہ کے لیے, دائمی

for good in Malayalam

for always, forever, permanently
എന്നെന്നേയ്ക്കുമായി, സ്ഥിരമായി, ശാശ്വതമായി, എന്നേയ്ക്കുമായി, സ്ഥായിയായി, അക്ഷയമായി

for good in Vietnamese

in a way that is conclusive and final — see also once and for all
mãi mãi, vĩnh viễn

Examples of for good in a sentence

  • [S]he was dozing in the elbovv-chair, having refuſed to lie dovvn, ſaying, She ſhould ſoon, ſhe hoped, lie dovvn for good.1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LIII. Mr. Belford, to Robert Lovelace, Esq.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: […], volume...
  • Well, now, I'm no scholar, and you're a lad as can read and figure; and, to put it straight, do you take it as a dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Israel Hands”, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC...
  • What I want is to get out of this fix, for good—so I can go to sleep at night without worrying over what's going to happen to me tomorrow, and next month, and next year.1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XXXII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published June 1944, →OCLC...
  • I thought it was there for good so I never tried.1971 March 19, Leonard Cohen (lyrics and music), “Famous Blue Raincoat”, in Songs of Love and Hate, New York, N.Y.: Columbia Records...

Synonyms of for good

All synonyms of for good

Forms of for good

alternative formfor good and all

Origin of for good

From for (“over (a period of time)”, preposition) + good (“of an action: complete, thorough, utter”, adjective).

Questions about for good

What does for good mean?
For good means in a way that is conclusive and final.
What is for good in Urdu?
For good in Urdu is ہمیشہ کے لیے, دائمی. See For good meaning in Urdu.
How do you use for good in a sentence?
[S]he was dozing in the elbovv-chair, having refuſed to lie dovvn, ſaying, She ſhould ſoon, ſhe hoped, lie dovvn for good.
What part of speech is for good?
For good is a prepositional phrase.
How do you pronounce for good?
For good is pronounced /fə ˈɡʊd/ (UK).

Words near for good in the dictionary

  1. for fudge's sake
  2. for fun
  3. for fuxake
  4. for God's sake
  5. for Goddess's sake
  6. for good
  7. for good and all
  8. for good measure
  9. for good or ill
  10. for goodness' sake
  11. for goodness' sakes

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: for good (page history and authors); for good (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); for good (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-for good.ogg, En-au-for good.ogg.

Cite this entry: “for good.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/for_good. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.