do-gooder

[ doo-good-er, -good- ]

noun

1. a well-intentioned but naive and often ineffectual social or political reformer.

do-gooder

noun

1. informal.
   a well-intentioned person, esp a naive or impractical one

Derived Forms

• ˌdo-ˈgooding, nounadjective
• ˌdo-ˈgoodery, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of do-gooder¹

1925–30, Americanism; do good + -er ¹

Example Sentences

As Jacob, the liberal white do-gooder at a West Philadelphia elementary school, Perfetti has become a fan favorite and meme king.

From Los Angeles Times

One commentator said now that the "do-gooder" pandoro with pink icing sugar had been exposed as junk, Italians were wondering where that left "the princess of influencers as well as queen of social media".

From BBC

Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score for “The Curse,” the brilliantly uncomfortable current Showtime series in which Stone plays a wannabe do-gooder TV house flipper.

From Los Angeles Times

A breed apart from his predecessor, he spent the bulk of Season 6 as something of a do-gooder … to an extent.

From New York Times

Casually satirizing the empty suck of social media and a do-gooder impulse that’s practiced solely with strangers, “World” is at times almost cartoonishly cruel.

From New York Times