for goodness' sake

English · Thesaurus

AI In plain words

Writing a short explanation…

Written by a house AI from the entry below, in your language. The entry itself is the source.

for goodness' sake

/fɔɹ ˈɡʊdnəs seɪk/ Canada, US
/fə ˈɡʊdnəs seɪk/ UK

Where it comes from

A minced version of for God's sake.

phrase for goodness' sake ! · for goodness sake · for goodness's sake

euphemistic, idiomatic Used to express frustration, exasperation, annoyance. For goodness' sake, get off the computer! You've been on there for ages!
Similar: for God's sake, for Christ's sake, Jesus Christ!, Christ almighty!, for fuck's sake, FFS, for crying out loud, for Pete's sake, for the love of God
euphemistic, idiomatic Used to express surprise or amazement. For goodness' sake, I spelled that word correctly. I never knew I could do that.
euphemistic, idiomatic Used for emphasis They'll try all they can to deceive and to cheat, But for goodness sake don't say I told you.

Talk about this word

Cite this

MLA

"for goodness' sake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/for%20goodness'%20sake. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

for goodness' sake. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/for%20goodness'%20sake

Chicago

"for goodness' sake." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/for%20goodness'%20sake.

BibTeX

@misc{for_goodness_sake_2026,
  title = {for goodness' sake},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/for%20goodness'%20sake},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}