goodness

B1 Topic:Describing People

US /ˈɡʊdnəs/ See IPA manual

Freq #1909

Meanings

1

noun
The quality of being kind, moral, and good.

She believed in the basic goodness of people.
2

noun
The healthy or nourishing part of food.

Steaming vegetables keeps all the goodness in them.
3

intj
An exclamation used to express surprise or shock.

Goodness, I didn't expect to see you here!

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · the quality of being kind,... good

More beneficencedogooderyheroism virtue virtuousness

Opposites

atrociousness badness corruptness criminality depravity evil evilness immorality knavery rascalityscoundrelryturpitude

Word family

Derived forms honest-to-goodnessnongoodness

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”).

goodnesse Middle English gōdnes Old English *gōdnassī Proto-West Germanic

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# goodness

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, intj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɡʊdnəs/
**Frequency rank:** 1909

## Meanings
1. The quality of being kind, moral, and good.
2. The healthy or nourishing part of food.
3. An exclamation used to express surprise or shock.

## Examples
- She believed in the basic goodness of people.
- Steaming vegetables keeps all the goodness in them.
- Goodness, I didn't expect to see you here!

## Synonyms
- beneficence
- dogoodery
- good
- heroism
- virtue
- virtuousness

## Antonyms
- atrociousness
- badness
- corruptness
- criminality
- depravity
- evil
- evilness
- immorality
- knavery
- rascality
- scoundrelry
- turpitude

## Derived Forms
- honest-to-goodness
- nongoodness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: goodnesse
- Root: gōdnes
- Root: *gōdnassī

## 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”).

## AI Etymology
Goodness comes 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”). The analysis is mainly morphological: the modern nominal form is built from the named base and affix. In current use, the main senses are “The quality of being kind, moral, and good” and “The healthy or nourishing part of food”.

## Topics
- Describing People

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goodness

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