good
adjective · noun · verb
Simple meaning
Acting in the interest of what is beneficial, ethical.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
guudIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɡʊd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
Acting in the interest of what is beneficial, ethical, or moral.
Beneficial; worthwhile.
Well-behaved (especially of children or animals).
Useful for a particular purpose; functional.
Of food or other perishable products, still fit for use; not yet expired, stale, rotten, etc.
Having a particularly pleasant taste.
noun
uncountable
The abstract instantiation of goodness; that which possesses desirable qualities, promotes success, welfare, or happiness, is serviceable, fit, excellent, kind, benevolent, etc.
countable
A result that is positive in the view of the speaker.
uncountable
The forces or behaviours that are the enemy of evil. Usually consists of helping others and general benevolence.
countableusually in the plural
An item of merchandise.
verb
intransitivenow
To thrive; fatten; prosper; improve.
intransitive
To make improvements or repairs.
transitive
To satisfy; indulge; gratify.
reflexive
To flatter; congratulate oneself; anticipate.
transitive
To make good; turn to good; improve.
transitive
To do good to (someone); benefit; cause to improve or gain.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Of a person or an animal
Used this way, good is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Relationships
Similar in idea, different in strength, tone or register.
Stronger
- excellent , Clearly above good.
- outstanding , Better than almost anything comparable.
Softer
- decent , Acceptable rather than impressive.
More formal
- satisfactory , Formal: meets the standard.
More casual
- great , Everyday enthusiasm.
Opposite
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
That which is pleasing or valuable or useful.
Something considered choice to eat.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Something to be imitated.
Having honest intentions.
An idle worthless person.
An idle worthless person.
Behavior that conforms to social conventions of the time.
An auspicious state resulting from favorable outcomes.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
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Looking for a more precise alternative? “good” can mean several things.
excellentsolideffectivekinddecent
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.