do-gooder

See also: dogooder

English

Alternative forms

• dogooder

Etymology

do good +‎ -er

Noun

do-gooder (plural do-gooders)

1. (derogatory) One who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority.

   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.

   • 1979, Monty Python's Life of Brian, spoken by Ex-Leper (Michael Palin):

     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.

Related terms

• do-goodism

Translations

one who has a conviction of their own moral superiority

• Catalan: bonista (ca) m or f
• Czech: sluníčkář (cs) m, pravdoláskař (cs)
• Finnish: maailmanparantaja (fi)
• French: bonne âme (fr) f
• German: Gutmensch (de) m, Weltverbesserer (de) m, Weltverbesserin m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: jótét lélek
• Italian: buonista (it) m or f
• Maori: kaiauwaha
• Portuguese: cidadão de bem m, moralista (pt) m or f
• Spanish: buenista m or f

See also

• bleeding heart
• political correctness
• social justice warrior
• self-righteous
• moralist