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for good. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
for good, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
for good in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
for good you have here. The definition of the word
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for good, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
From for + good (“of an action: complete, thorough, utter”, adjective).
Pronunciation
Prepositional phrase
for good
- (idiomatic) In a way that is conclusive and final.
- Synonyms: definitively, forever, for good and all, once and for all, permanently; see also Thesaurus:finally
- Hyponym: for keeps
A bad haircut is no fun, but at least you’re not stuck with it for good, only until it grows out.
1711 July 16 (Gregorian calendar), Jonathan Swift, “[Dr. Swift’s Journal to Stella.] Letter XXVI.”, in Thomas Sheridan and John Nichols, editors, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, , new edition, volume XV, London: J Johnson, , published 1801, →OCLC, page 85:This day I left Chelsea for good (that's a genteel phrase) and am got into Suffolk street.
1748, [Samuel Richardson], “Letter LIII. Mr. Belford, to Robert Lovelace, Esq.”, in Clarissa. Or, The History of a Young Lady: , volume VII, London: S Richardson; , →OCLC, page 200:[S]he was dozing in the elbovv-chair, having refuſed to lie dovvn, ſaying, She ſhould ſoon, ſhe hoped, lie dovvn for good.
1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Israel Hands”, in Treasure Island, London, Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part V (My Sea Adventure), page 207:Well, now, I'm no scholar, and you're a lad as can read and figure; and, to put it straight, do you take it as a dead man is dead for good, or do he come alive again?
1936 June 30, Margaret Mitchell, chapter XXXII, in Gone with the Wind, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC; republished New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, 1944, →OCLC, part IV, page 540:What I want is to get out of this fix, for good—so I can go to sleep at night without worrying over what's going to happen to me tomorrow, and next month, and next year.
1971 March 19, Leonard Cohen (lyrics and music), “Famous Blue Raincoat”, in Songs of Love and Hate, New York, N.Y.: Columbia Records, →OCLC; lyrics republished in Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs, Toronto, Ont.: McClelland & Stewart, 1993, →ISBN, page 153:Yes, and thanks for the trouble you took from her eyes. I thought it was there for good so I never tried.
Translations
- Bulgarian: завинаги (bg) (zavinagi)
- Catalan: d'una vegada per totes
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: please add this translation if you can
- Czech: nadobro, navždy (cs)
- Danish: for altid (da), for evigt (da)
- Dutch: voorgoed (nl)
- Finnish: lopullisesti (fi), pysyvästi (fi)
- French: pour de bon (fr), définitivement (fr)
- Galician: de vez, para sempre
- Georgian: სამუდამოდ (samudamod)
- German: auf ewig, endgültig (de), für immer (de)
- Greek: για τα καλά (el) (gia ta kalá)
- Hungarian: egyszer s mindenkorra, örökre (hu), végleg (hu), véglegesen (hu)
- Italian: definitivamente (it), per sempre
- Japanese: 永遠に (eien ni), 永久に (eikyu ni)
- Norwegian:
- Bokmål: for godt
- Nynorsk: for godt, for ollo
- Polish: na dobre
- Portuguese: de vez (pt), em definitivo, eternamente (pt), para sempre (pt)
- Russian: наве́ки (ru) (navéki), навсегда́ (ru) (navsegdá)
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: јѐдно̄м за сва̏гда, за̀увије̄к
- Roman: jèdnōm za svȁgda, zàuvijēk (sh)
- Spanish: con toda la barba, definitivamente (es), de una vez por todas, para siempre
- Swedish: för gott (sv), för alltid, för evigt
- Ukrainian: назавжди́ (nazavždý)
- Welsh: am byth
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See also
Further reading
- “for good, phrase” under “good, adj., n., adv., and int.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2023.
- “for good”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present, reproduced from Christine Ammer, The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin, 2003, →ISBN.