godfather

American  

[god-fah-ther] / ˈgɒdˌfɑ ðər /

noun

• godfathers
  plural

1. a man who serves as sponsor for a child at baptism.

2. any male sponsor or guardian.

3. (often initial capital letter) a powerful leader, especially of the Mafia.

4. a person who is regarded as the originator or principal shaper of a movement, school of thought, art form, industry, or the like.

   the godfather of abstract expressionism.

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verb (used with object)

1. to act as godfather to; be sponsor or protector for.

godfather British  

/ ˈɡɒdˌfɑːðə /

noun

1. a male godparent

2. the head of a Mafia family or other organized criminal ring

3. an originator or leading exponent

   the godfather of South African pop

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• godfatherly
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• godfathers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of godfather

before 1000; Middle English godfader, Old English godfæder; see origin at god, father

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

godfather godfathers

Sheen said PCBs were now known as "the godfather of forever chemicals".

From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026

Lindsey Graham and Mark Sanford were once close; so much so that Mr. and Mrs. Sanford, as they then were, named Graham godfather to their youngest son.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 29, 2026

And so the godfather of modern horror was born.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

So, while the growers were losing money hand over fist, housing developers were coming through with godfather offers to buy them out, convert them to row housing, and sell, sell, sell.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

He seemed set on course to become just as reckless a godfather to Teddy Lupin as Sirius Black had been to him.

From "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling

Several key figures have since walked out, among them Yann LeCun, considered one of the "godfathers" of modern AI, who had led Meta's AI research since 2013.

From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026

LeCun, often described as one of the godfathers of AI, created an AI research organization inside Facebook in 2013 and became Meta’s chief AI scientist a few years later.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 10, 2026

The three "godfathers" have publicly stated opposing views on how dangerous AI could be.

From BBC ● Nov. 4, 2025

“The two godfathers of the industry have divergent opinions on such a fundamental question.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2025

The next Saturday, Desdemona, seized with conflicting emotions, watched as the children’s godfathers held them above the baptismal font at Assumption.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides