Synonyms

goodness gracious

Idioms

Also, good gracious; gracious sakes. Exclamation of surprise, dismay, or alarm, as in Goodness gracious! You've forgotten your ticket. Both goodness and gracious originally alluded to the good (or grace) of God, but these colloquial expressions, which date from the 1700s, are not considered either vulgar or blasphemous.

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.

See Examples For:

goodness gracious

I wish to goodness gracious that PBS were in a position to do that.

From Salon ● Feb. 25, 2025

Katie Hafner: So Lillian, oh my goodness gracious.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 21, 2023

But isn’t there a relationship between Kuhl’s 1.955 walks and hits per inning pitched and the fact that his wife — goodness gracious, his 30-year-old wife — has breast cancer?

From Washington Post ● May 3, 2023

“The future of our American miracle is on the line in a way that I have not seen since, goodness gracious, since maybe I was in high school,” Mr. Pompeo said.

From Washington Times ● Mar. 3, 2023

Why, goodness gracious me!" cried Mr. Timmy Timmens; "has Polly forgot all about the fairy wish?

From Funny Little Socks Being the Fourth Book by Sarah L. Barrow

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023