Meaning & use
goodie bag
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Meaning
nouncountableinformal
A small bag of free gifts given to guests at a party, event, or conference.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a goodie bag' or 'goodie bags'.
Patterns
- a goodie bag for someone
- a goodie bag of something
Every child left the birthday party with a goodie bag full of candy and small toys.
The conference organizers handed out goodie bags with pens, notebooks, and snacks.
She filled the goodie bags with stickers and bubbles for the guests.
Word forms
| plural | goodie bags |
|---|
Common combinations
- hand out goodie bags
- Volunteers handed out goodie bags at the entrance.
- fill a goodie bag
- We filled each goodie bag with homemade cookies.
- goodie bag for the kids
- They prepared a goodie bag for the kids at the fair.
Synonyms and how they differ
- party favor
- More common in American English for a small gift given to guests; a goodie bag is the bag itself, while a party favor is usually the item inside.
- swag bag
- Used especially at conferences or promotional events; it often suggests branded merchandise rather than party treats.
Commonly confused: goodie bag or goody bag?
goodie bag vs goody bag
A common variant spelling. Both are accepted, but 'goodie bag' is the more usual form.
Practice
The children each received a ___ with candy and small toys at the party.
Choose one answer.
The singular countable noun 'goodie bag' fits after 'a'. 'Goodie bags' is plural and would need 'a' removed; 'a goodie bag' would duplicate the article.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “goodie bag”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.