Meaning & use
goodness
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Meanings
noununcountable
The quality of being kind, honest, and morally right.
Grammar: Uncountable: no plural, and no 'a' before it.
Patterns
- the goodness of someone
- out of the goodness of your heart
She believes in the basic goodness of people.
He helped us out of the goodness of his heart.
The goodness in her actions was clear to everyone.
noununcountable
The part of something that is good or beneficial.
Grammar: Often used in phrases like 'the goodness of' or 'all the goodness of'.
Patterns
- the goodness of something
- all the goodness
We enjoyed the goodness of fresh fruit in summer.
The goodness of the soil makes the vegetables taste better.
interjectioninformal
Used to express surprise or mild shock.
Grammar: Used alone or in phrases like 'goodness me' or 'my goodness'.
Patterns
- goodness me
- my goodness
Goodness, you startled me!
My goodness, look at the time!
Common combinations
- out of the goodness of your heart
- She volunteers out of the goodness of her heart.
- my goodness
- My goodness, that cake looks delicious!
- goodness me
- Goodness me, I forgot my keys again.
- the goodness of
- He spoke about the goodness of human nature.
Synonyms and how they differ
- virtue
- Virtue is a more formal word for moral excellence and can be countable, while goodness is usually uncountable.
- kindness
- Kindness focuses on caring behavior toward others, while goodness is a broader moral quality.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: goodness or good?
goodness vs good
Good is an adjective meaning 'of high quality' or 'morally right'; goodness is the noun for the quality itself.
Practice
She helped the stranger out of the ___ of her heart.
Choose one answer.
The fixed phrase is 'out of the goodness of your heart'. 'Good' is an adjective, 'goodly' is an old-fashioned adjective, and 'goods' means products.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “goodness”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.