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do-gooding

American

[doo-good-ing] / ˈduˌgʊd ɪŋ /

noun

earnestly doing good; focusing on humanitarian causes in a naive and often ineffectual way.

Etymology

Origin of do-gooding

First recorded in 1935–40; do ¹ ( def. ) + good ( def. ) + -ing ² ( def. )

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.