goody two shoes
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goody two shoes
Where it comes from
From goody (“goodwife, obsolete title of respect for a woman”) + two + shoes. Generally considered to have originated with the title character in The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes (1765), which indeed seems to be the source of its later use as a common noun with the present meaning. However, as a proper noun with implications of wealth rather than goodness, it is also found earlier, c. 1687, in the writings of Charles Cotton: “Why, what then; Goody Two-Shoes, what if it be? / Hold you, if you can, your tittle-tattle, quoth he.”
noun goody two shoes · goody-two-shoes · goody two-shoes · goodie two shoes · goodie two-shoes
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A goody-goody; a person who is almost always perfectly well-behaved, with an implication of smugness.
[…] When jabbed by ethicists, he at first asserted, "I'm not Goody Two-Shoes," before acknowledging a minor lapse.
Similar: boy scout
Translations
Every language
noun goody-goody
| Español | santito, santurrón, mojigato, pacato |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | Tugendbold, Gutmensch |
| Italiano | santerello, santarello, santerellino, santarellino |
| Русский | па́инька páinʹka, свято́ша svjatóša |
| עברית | יֶלֶד טוֹב יְרוּשָׁלַיִם yéled tov yrushaláim |
Talk about this word "goody two shoes." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/goody%20two%20shoes. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. goody two shoes. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/goody%20two%20shoes "goody two shoes." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/goody%20two%20shoes.Cite this
@misc{goody_two_shoes_2026,
title = {goody two shoes},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/goody%20two%20shoes},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
