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

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

Also appearing will be the godfather of punk, Iggy Pop, and Fatboy Slim -- the British DJ and producer who dominated the electronic music scene in the 1990s.

From Barron's ● Apr. 10, 2026

Ron and Hermione had been so deeply involved in helping Sirius escape from the Ministry of Magic that they were almost as concerned about Harry’s godfather as he was.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" 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

At a different event in Washington, Sanders recently pressed Geoffrey Hinton, considered one of the godfathers of AI, on what AI could mean for employment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 14, 2025

For decades, Sean “Diddy” Combs promoted himself as one of the godfathers of hip-hop, a celebrity who transformed the genre and became a business estimated to top a billion dollars.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2024

Neil said their parallel lives were not limited to their playing careers, remarking that they married their partners, "then it was godfathers to each other's kids. And then divorced."

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 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