good guy
Americannoun
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a moral or noble person; a hero or someone perceived as one.
The film's twist is that the monster turns out to be the good guy.
-
any person who is regarded as habitually prone to doing good things or as being morally correct.
There are times in this job where we don't feel like the good guys.
Etymology
Origin of good guy
An Americanism first recorded in 1920–25
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.
“He definitely didn’t want that order of, you know, publicity. He wanted just to say to me, ‘I’m a good guy.’
From Salon • May 29, 2026
This is moral injury: the bone-deep understanding that you are not a good guy.
From Slate • Mar. 16, 2026
He was a good guy and a production designer who took me to a couple of movie sets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 17, 2026
“There is a good guy and a bad guy that’s very clear and very binary,” she says.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 19, 2025
He’s a good guy but shy and a little awkward —which has caused him some grief over the years.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
