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View synonyms for goody two shoes

goody two shoes

noun

, (sometimes initial capital letters)
, plural goody two shoes.
  1. a goody-goody.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of goody two shoes1

After the title character of The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765), a nursery tale perhaps written by Oliver Goldsmith
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Idioms and Phrases

A prudish, self-righteous individual, a goody-goody. For example, Phyllis was a real goody two-shoes, tattling on her friends to the teacher . This expression alludes to the main character of a nursery tale, The History of Goody Two-Shoes (1765), who was so pleased when receiving a second shoe that she kept saying “Two shoes.” The goody in the story is short for goodwife but means “goody-goody” in the idiom.

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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