Word.ws English Dictionary

good old boys

good old boys is the plural of good old boy.

Meaning of good old boy

Noun

good old boy (plural good old boys)

  1. 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
    Synonyms:
    buddy, pal, country boy
  2. 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.

Forms of good old boys

alternative formgood ol' boys
alternative formgood ole boys

Questions about good old boys

What is good old boys the plural of?
Good old boys is the plural of good old boy.

Words near good old boys in the dictionary

  1. good old boy networks
  2. good old boydom
  3. good old boyhood
  4. good old boyism
  5. good old boyness
  6. good old boys
  7. good old days
  8. good old times
  9. good ole
  10. good ole boy
  11. good ole boys

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: good old boys (page history and authors); 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.

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