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• good Samaritan
  good Samaritan

  noun

  one who is compassionate and helpful to a person in distress.
• Good Samaritan
  Good Samaritan

  noun

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

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

See Examples For:

good Samaritan Good Samaritan

A Coast Guard aircrew located the boy sitting on top of the overturned boat on Monday morning, and a nearby good Samaritan vessel pulled him to safety.

From BBC ● Sep. 12, 2026

"My good Samaritan," Harp said when she appeared on stage with Trump at a "Faith and Freedom Coalition" meeting in 2018.

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

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

Like the power plant manager who quelled a riot in Huntington Beach, and the mysterious good Samaritan in Tustin who saved a whole bunch of people at a nursing home, then disappeared.

From "Dry" by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

The couple moved to Los Angeles in 1976, and in 1985, Cannom joined the staff at the Hospital of the Good Samaritan, where he would serve as medical director of cardiology for over three decades.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026

His primary attorney Steve Haney contends that the fire was instead set off by people using fireworks, and that his client was a "Good Samaritan" who called 911 a total of 17 times.

From Barron's ● Jun. 8, 2026

At Good Samaritan, Maia limps into the ER, cons her way into priority triage, gets stitched up, and limps back out against the doctor’s orders.

From Salon ● Dec. 15, 2025

He was, by all accounts, acting as a Good Samaritan, trying to break up the fight.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 7, 2025

In the world of the Golden Fleece Debating Society and the Underprivileged Local Children subcommittee of the Good Samaritan Confraternity, this had created no problems.

From "A Separate Peace" by John Knowles