goodness
/ˈɡʊdnəs/ noun
Forms goodnesses
- noun (uncountable) The state or characteristic of being good.
- noun (countable) The good, nutritional, healthy part or content of something.
- noun (uncountable, euphemistic) God. “Thank goodness that the war is over!”
- noun (Christianity) The moral qualities which constitute Christian excellence; moral virtue.
Synonyms
Antonyms
atrociousness badness corruptness criminality depravity evil evilness immorality knavery rascality scoundrelry turpitude
Etymology
From Middle English goodnesse, godnesse, from Old English gōdnes (“goodness; virtue; kindness”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōdnassī (“goodness”), equivalent to good + -ness. Cognate with Scots guidness (“goodness”), West Frisian goedens (“goodness”), Old High German guotnessī (“goodness”), Middle High German guotnisse (“goodness”), Russian годность (godnostʹ, “suitability, fitness”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun The quality of being good in any of its various senses; excellence; virtue; kindness; benevolence; as, the goodness of timber, of a soil, of food; goodness of character, of disposition, of conduct, etc.
Etymology [AS. g.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “goodness”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details