Dictionary

do-gooder en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree English do good Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzios Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English do-gooder From do good + -er.

Meanings

1. (derogatory) One who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, and often with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority.
   • That distress call we never received, it was logged with HQ. By some anonymous, piece-o'-shit do-gooder aboard this ship. 2015 November 23, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, “Dulcinea”, in The Expanse, season 1, episode 1, spoken by Captain McDowell:
   • Prohibition in the United States was an unsuccessful attempt by do-gooders to save people from the dangers of alcohol, whether they wanted to be saved or not.
   • I was hopping along, minding my own business. All of a sudden, up he comes, cures me. One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave! “You're cured mate.” Bloody do-gooder. 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Ex-Leper (Michael Palin):

Forms

Deriveds

do-gooderism · do-goodery

Relateds

bleeding heart · evildoer · self-righteous · political correctness · welldoer · moralist · progressivist · social justice warrior · do-goodism · goo-goo

Translations (14)

ca bonista (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · de Gutmensch (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · pl dobroczyńca (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · cs sluníčkář (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · pt cidadão de bem (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · de Weltverbesserer (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · nb naiv idealist (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · mi kaiauwaha (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · es buenista (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · it buonista (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · de Weltverbesserin (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · cs pravdoláskař (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · fi maailmanparantaja (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority) · hu jótét lélek (one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority)