good Samaritan

American  

[good suh-mar-i-tn] / ˈgʊd səˈmær ɪ tn /

Or good samaritan

noun

1. one who is compassionate and helpful to a person in distress.

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Good Samaritan British  

noun

1. New Testament a figure in one of Christ's parables (Luke 10:30–37) who is an example of compassion towards those in distress

2. a kindly person who helps another in difficulty or distress

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Good Samaritan Cultural  

1. In one of the parables of Jesus, the only one of several passersby to come to the aid of a Jew (see also Jews) who had been robbed, beaten, and left to die on the roadside. The kindness of the Samaritan was particularly admirable because Jews and Samaritans (i.e., people of Samaria) were generally enemies. Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan to answer a man who had asked him, “Who is my neighbor?” He forced his questioner to admit that the Samaritan was the true neighbor of the man who had been robbed.

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good Samaritan Idioms  

1. A compassionate person who unselfishly helps others, as in In this neighborhood you can't count on a good Samaritan if you get in trouble. This expression alludes to Jesus's parable about a Samaritan who rescues and cares for a stranger who had been robbed and badly hurt and had been ignored by a priest and a Levite (Luke 10:30–35). The Samaritans were considered a heretical group by other Jews, so by using a Samaritan for the parable, Jesus chose a person whom his listeners would find least likely to be worthy of concern. [c. 1600]

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Discover More

Figuratively, “Good Samaritans” are persons who go out of their way to perform acts of kindness to others, especially strangers.

Etymology

Origin of good Samaritan

First recorded in 1840–50; from the parable of the good Samaritan in Luke 10:30–37.

Example Sentences

But the moment that stood out most to me was when one good Samaritan asked plaintively while helping the distressed teenager, “We got to be able to call somebody.”

From Salon • Jan. 14, 2026

Miranda fashions himself equal parts good Samaritan, stuntman and documentary filmmaker.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 3, 2025

"I was pleading for someone to carry me and take me to hospital. A good Samaritan brought me here," he recalled in an interview with a freelance journalist working for the BBC.

From BBC • Jul. 24, 2025

The driver was able to get off the bus, and a good Samaritan picked him up and took him to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2024

“And,” Mom says, “they finally found the good Samaritan who saved all those people in that nursing home.”

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman