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

A convicted people smuggler, once described as "the godfather" of the French migrant camps, is living in Leicestershire and believed to be seeking asylum while working illegally, a BBC investigation can reveal.

From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026

And so the godfather of modern horror was born.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

A few years ago, my godfather was jailed on trumped-up “anticonversion” charges.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 12, 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

I never wished for a godfather, but he may be one of the best birthday gifts I’ve ever gotten.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

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

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