do-gooder

American  

[doo-good-er, -good-] / ˈduˈgʊd ər, -ˌgʊd- /

noun

1. a well-intentioned but naive and often ineffectual social or political reformer.

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do-gooder British  

noun

1. informal a well-intentioned person, esp a naive or impractical one

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• do-goodery
  noun
• do-gooding
  noun

Etymology

Origin of do-gooder

1925–30, do good + -er ¹

Example Sentences

The 600 attendees who had crammed themselves into a D.C. town house that evening were typical Washington creatures: political staffers, journalists, do-gooder nonprofit types.

From Slate • Dec. 23, 2025

One commentator said now that the "do-gooder" pandoro with pink icing sugar had been exposed as junk, Italians were wondering where that left "the princess of influencers as well as queen of social media".

From BBC • Dec. 19, 2023

The descriptions of Bankman-Fried by the prosecution's three star witnesses contradict the 31-year-old former billionaire's pre-arrest reputation as a nerdy do-gooder who wanted to be a responsible actor in the rough-and-tumble crypto space.

From Reuters • Oct. 23, 2023

Tony is the crusading truth-seeker, Mira the naive do-gooder.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 3, 2023

But other than one do-gooder teacher in sixth grade—who they ignored and was gone a year later anyway—no teacher or principal or any other adult had ever said a thing.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss