good guy
Americannoun
-
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.
After all, if he’s not a good guy, who is?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
“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
Paul was a "good guy… a charismatic gentleman" who David "looked up to a lot" and whose sense of judgement he trusted.
From BBC ● May 18, 2026
This is moral injury: the bone-deep understanding that you are not a good guy.
From Slate ● Mar. 16, 2026
"And you're a hell of a good guy. Anybody ever tell you you were a good guy?"
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
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.
