goodness
/ˈɡʊdnəs/noun, interjection
goodness is spelled G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, goodness means “The state or characteristic of being good” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of goodness is goodnesses.
How many letters and syllables are in goodness?
| Letters | 8: G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 13 times per million words; the 5,778th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is goodness?
Goodness appears 13 times per million words in written English, the 5,778th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce goodness?
- /ˈɡʊdnəs/
- /ˈɡʊ(d)nɪs/
Goodness has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-goodness.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of goodness
- goodnesses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does goodness mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The state or characteristic of being good.
- 2
The good, nutritional, healthy part or content of something.
- 3
God.
Thank goodness that the war is over!
- 4
The moral qualities which constitute Christian excellence; moral virtue.
interjection
- 1
Clipping of goodness me or various similar exclamations such as goodness gracious.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Goodness in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | bonté , bonté divine, corbleu, crebleu, jarnibleu, jarnicoton |
| German | Güte, Gütigkeit, Herzensgüte, Tugend, Integrität |
| Portuguese | bondade |
| Spanish | bondad |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does goodness come from?
From Middle English goodnesse, godnesse, from Old English gōdnes (“goodness; virtue; kindness”), from Proto-West Germanic *gōdnassī (“goodness”), equivalent to good + -ness. Cognate with Scots guidness (“goodness”), West Frisian goedens (“goodness”), Old High German guotnessī (“goodness”), Middle High German guotnisse (“goodness”), Russian годность (godnostʹ, “suitability, fitness”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).