godfather
Americannoun
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godfathers
plural
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a man who serves as sponsor for a child at baptism.
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any male sponsor or guardian.
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(often initial capital letter) a powerful leader, especially of the Mafia.
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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.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a male godparent
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the head of a Mafia family or other organized criminal ring
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an originator or leading exponent
the godfather of South African pop
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of godfather
before 1000; Middle English godfader, Old English godfæder; see origin at god, father
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The i Paper carries a warning from Nobel Prize-winning scientist Geoffrey Hinton, widely seen as the godfather of artificial intelligence, who says AI is "all hurtling out of control".
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Later, the couple repaid the film producer by making him godfather to their daughter, Lilibet.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 5, 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
His favorite parts of the city are its repertory cinemas and lush neighborhoods like Mount Washington, where his godfather resides, because they look the most like Vancouver.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
“Naw, girl! What kinda gangster you think your ol’ godfather be?”
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
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
Despite worldwide renown as one of the godfathers of artificial intelligence, he has been increasingly sidelined as the company’s approach diverged from his views on the technology’s future.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 15, 2025
Merrick Bobb, one of the godfathers of the modern police oversight movement in Los Angeles and beyond, has died.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2025
Similar fears are shared by two of the three scientists known as the godfathers of AI for their pioneering research, Geoffrey Hinton and Yoshua Bengio.
From BBC ● May 13, 2024
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
