do-gooder

noun

"do-gooder" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“do-gooder” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, and often with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority.

Corpus desk

Index EN-do-gooder · do-gooder · English

do-gooder · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for do-gooder
PropertyValue
Headworddo-gooder
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “do-gooder” in English

do-gooderranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

do-gooder is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "One who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, and often with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for do-gooder in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From do good + -er. The correct English form is do-gooder, spelled D-O---G-O-O-D-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    One who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, and often with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how do-gooder appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Prohibition in the United States was an unsuccessful attempt by do-gooders to save people from the dangers of alcohol, whether they wanted to be saved or not.
  2. I was hopping along, minding my own business. All of a sudden, up he comes, cures me. One minute I'm a leper with a trade, next minute my livelihood's gone. Not so much as a by-your-leave! “You're cured mate.” Bloody do-gooder.

Etymology

From do good + -er.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "do-gooder"?
"do-gooder" is spelled D-O---G-O-O-D-E-R.
What does "do-gooder" mean?
As a noun, "do-gooder" means: One who advocates a certain course of action, often of political or social concern, and often with the naive conviction of their own moral superiority.
What is the origin of the word "do-gooder"?
From do good + -er. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list