What does "do-gooder" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "do-gooder"?

Common synonyms include: almsgiver, humanitarian, improver, philanthropist, robin hood.

Do-gooder

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
One who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, and often with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority. derogatory
"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."
2
someone devoted to the promotion of human welfare and to social reforms wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

almsgiver humanitarian improver philanthropist robin hood

Antonyms

All antonyms

evildoer

Example

More examples

"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."

Etymology

From do good + -er.

Related phrases

do-gooderism do-goodery

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.