good old boy
good old boy noun: a male friend, especially a childhood friend; a man with an established network of friends who assist one another in social and business situations; a decent, dependable fellow.
Noun
good old boy (plural good old boys)
- A male friend, especially a childhood friend; a man with an established network of friends who assist one another in social and business situations; a decent, dependable fellow.
- "Billie, what kind of a lad is that young Coke up at Washurst?" He addressed an old college friend. . . .
"He's one of those Ohio Cokes—regular thing—father millionaire—used to be a barber—good old boy."1899, Stephen Crane, chapter 5, in Active Service - Tell these fellows to say to their Sultan that he is a good old boy, and that we thank him very much.1910, H. Rider Haggard, chapter 7, in Queen Sheba's Ring
- "Billie, what kind of a lad is that young Coke up at Washurst?" He addressed an old college friend. . . .
- A white man who embodies the culture stereotypically associated with the Southern US, such as bias against nonwhite people, and other conservative (usually Christian) attitudes.
- "White Lightning" concerns a good old boy named Gator McKluskey (Burt Reynolds) who is serving time in the Arkansas pen for messing around with illegal liquor.1973, "Quick Cuts" (film review), Time, 24 Sep.
- The Texas Department of "Corrections" is the largest state prison system in this country, with more than 20 separate units housing upwards of 35,000 prisoners. The system is run by a network of "good old boys," and its policies are a direct reflection of their personal morals and values, so...1984 August 18, R. L. Richardson, “Women In Cages”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 6, page 7
Synonyms of good old boy
Forms of good old boy
| plural | good old boys |
|---|---|
| alternative form | good ol' boy |
| alternative form | good ole boy |
Words formed from good old boy
Questions about good old boy
- What does good old boy mean?
- Good old boy means a male friend, especially a childhood friend; a man with an established network of friends who assist one another in social and business situations; a decent, dependable fellow.
- What part of speech is good old boy?
- Good old boy is a noun.
- What is the plural of good old boy?
- The plural of good old boy is good old boys.
Words near good old boy in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: good old boy (page history and authors). 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-au-good old boy.ogg.
Cite this entry: “good old boy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/good_old_boy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.