good

Adjective (1)

good (comparative better or (nonstandard, humorous) gooder, superlative best or (nonstandard, humorous) goodest)

1. Acting in the interest of what is beneficial, ethical, or moral.
   • good intentions
   • 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.c. 1525, The Example of Euyll Tongues, page a3 rectoː

   Synonyms:

   goodness

2. Competent or talented.
   • a good swimmer
   • 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 delusion1704, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached on Several Occasions, On the nature and measure of conscience

   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).
   • 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. (US) Satisfied or at ease; not requiring more.
   • Would you like a glass of water? — I'm good.
   • [Are] you good? — Yeah, I'm fine.
6. (colloquial) Accepting of, OK with
   • My mother said she's good with me being alone with my date as long as she's met them first.
   • The soup is rather spicy. Are you good with that, or would you like something else?
7. (archaic) Of 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...
8. Useful for a particular purpose; functional.
   • it’s a good watch; the flashlight batteries are still good
   • 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.1526, Herballː
9. Effective.
   • a good worker
   • 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...
10. (obsolete) Real; actual; serious.
    • in good sooth
    • 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...
11. Having a particularly pleasant taste.
    • The food was very good.

    Synonyms:

    not bad

12. Being satisfying; meeting dietary requirements.
    • Eat a good dinner so you will be ready for the big game tomorrow.

Interjection

1. That is good; an elliptical exclamation of satisfaction or commendation.
   • Good! I can leave now.

Adverb

good (comparative better, superlative best)

1. (informal, proscribed, sometimes) Well; satisfactorily or thoroughly.
   • When you're cleaning these racks, you've got to get in there good, because the quality system specifies it.
   • The boy done good.

Noun

good (countable and uncountable, plural goods)

1. (uncountable) The forces or behaviours that are the enemy of evil. Usually consists of helping others and general benevolence.
   • 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...1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC
   • 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

   Antonyms:

   bad, evil

2. (countable) A result that is positive in the view of the speaker.

   Antonyms:

   bad

3. (uncountable) The 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.
   • He is an influence for good on those girls.
4. (countable, plural-normally) An 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]...
5. (countable, plural-normally) An article of personal property (as opposed to real property).

Verb (1)

good (third-person singular simple present goods, present participle gooding, simple past and past participle gooded)

1. (dialectal, intransitive) To thrive; fatten; prosper; improve.
2. (dialectal, transitive) To make good; turn to good; improve.
3. (dialectal, intransitive) To make improvements or repairs.
4. (dialectal, intransitive) To benefit; gain.
5. (dialectal, transitive) To do good to (someone); benefit; cause to improve or gain.
6. (dialectal, transitive) To satisfy; indulge; gratify.
7. (dialectal, reflexive) To flatter; congratulate oneself; anticipate.

Verb (2)

good (third-person singular simple present goods, present participle gooding, simple past and past participle gooded)

1. (Scotland, dialectal, transitive) To 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

Adjective (2)

good (not comparable)

1. (Internet, dialectal, ethnic, offensive, slur) Of 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...
   • 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)

   Synonyms:

   all right, decent, not bad, well

Proper noun (1) capitalized: Good

Good

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

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Good

the Good

1. Plato'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.