god·fa·ther
ˈgäd-ˌfä-t͟hər 
also ˈgȯd-
1
: a man who sponsors a person at baptism
2
: one having a relation to someone or something analogous to that of a male sponsor to his godchild: such as
a
: one that founds, supports, or inspires
made him the godfather of a whole generation of rebels—
The Times Literary Supplement (London)
The Times Literary Supplement (London)
b
: the leader of an organized crime syndicate
godfathered; godfathering; godfathers
: to act as godfather to
Examples of godfather in a Sentence
Noun
Her uncle is her godfather.
Many people regard him as the godfather of rock and roll.
Recent Examples on the WebSadie Bell, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024
McCraney gave a heartfelt introduction touching upon Brown’s empathy and what McCraney dubbed his biggest honor – being godfather to Brown’s two sons.
—Nicole Fell, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Mar. 2024
The wave of posts and memes seemingly coincided with Prince William backing out of a memorial service for his godfather, the late King Constantine of Greece, due to personal matters.
—Pamela Avila, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
So social media conspiracy theories about her health and whereabouts filled the void—especially after her husband, Prince William, abruptly pulled out of the memorial service for his godfather King Constantine of Greece without explanation.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2024
Such questions exploded from Reddit threads and tabloid pages to mainstream news outlets last month when William cited personal matters as his reason for missing the funeral of his late godfather, King Constantine of Greece.
—Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2024
The prince abruptly pulled out of attending a memorial service honoring his late godfather on Tuesday.
—Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 1 Mar. 2024
The ambient godfather contributed vocals and instruments to Manzanera’s solo debut, 1975’s Diamond Head, a knockout album that found Manzanera imbuing his heady, playful art rock with his Latin roots for the first time on wax.
—Joe Lynch, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
William's godfather Constantine, who was the last King of Greece, died in January 2023 at age 82.
—Becca Longmire, Peoplemag, 22 Mar. 2024
Kim Masters, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 July 2022
Even the beginning is a little iffy: Where does godfather Drosselmeyer come from?
—John Anderson, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2021
The sons also took Murdaugh’s advice to hire attorney Cory Fleming to be executor of their mother’s estate without telling them Fleming was a longtime friend, old college roommate and godfather to at least one of Murdaugh’s sons.
—Jeffrey Collins, chicagotribune.com, 14 Oct. 2021
Hawkins, godfather to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, took teammates to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum whenever in Kansas City, decades before MLB officially recognized the leagues.
—Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 25 Jan. 2021
Now Leroy could be dad first and coach second, while Lewis could be coach first and godfather second.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2020
Hosted by Sean, 44, the two-part documentary about his dad — who was tragically murdered outside his New York City apartment on Dec.8, 1980 — also features memories from his elder brother, Julian Lennon, and godfather Elton John.
—Phil Boucher, PEOPLE.com, 23 Sep. 2020
The new generation of progressives in the city, godfathered by Garcia, and represented in the March elections by Alma Anaya, Aaron Ortiz, and Beatriz Frausto, is a force to be reckoned with within the party.
—Jacqueline Serrato, chicagotribune.com, 25 Apr. 2018
Noun
Text revealed that the latter was taken by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, who was a close friend of the grunge star and Frances Bean's godfather.
—Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 5 Apr. 2024
McCraney gave a heartfelt introduction touching upon Brown’s empathy and what McCraney dubbed his biggest honor – being godfather to Brown’s two sons.
—Nicole Fell, The Hollywood Reporter, 24 Mar. 2024
The wave of posts and memes seemingly coincided with Prince William backing out of a memorial service for his godfather, the late King Constantine of Greece, due to personal matters.
—Pamela Avila, USA TODAY, 23 Mar. 2024
So social media conspiracy theories about her health and whereabouts filled the void—especially after her husband, Prince William, abruptly pulled out of the memorial service for his godfather King Constantine of Greece without explanation.
—Elise Taylor, Vogue, 22 Mar. 2024
Such questions exploded from Reddit threads and tabloid pages to mainstream news outlets last month when William cited personal matters as his reason for missing the funeral of his late godfather, King Constantine of Greece.
—Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2024
The prince abruptly pulled out of attending a memorial service honoring his late godfather on Tuesday.
—Grace Tucker, The Enquirer, 1 Mar. 2024
The ambient godfather contributed vocals and instruments to Manzanera’s solo debut, 1975’s Diamond Head, a knockout album that found Manzanera imbuing his heady, playful art rock with his Latin roots for the first time on wax.
—Joe Lynch, Billboard, 25 Mar. 2024
William's godfather Constantine, who was the last King of Greece, died in January 2023 at age 82.
—Becca Longmire, Peoplemag, 22 Mar. 2024
Verb
Murdoch’s political ally, godfather to one of Rupert’s young daughters with Deng – have to do with this?
—Kim Masters, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 July 2022
Even the beginning is a little iffy: Where does godfather Drosselmeyer come from?
—John Anderson, WSJ, 9 Dec. 2021
The sons also took Murdaugh’s advice to hire attorney Cory Fleming to be executor of their mother’s estate without telling them Fleming was a longtime friend, old college roommate and godfather to at least one of Murdaugh’s sons.
—Jeffrey Collins, chicagotribune.com, 14 Oct. 2021
Hawkins, godfather to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, took teammates to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum whenever in Kansas City, decades before MLB officially recognized the leagues.
—Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY, 25 Jan. 2021
Now Leroy could be dad first and coach second, while Lewis could be coach first and godfather second.
—Matthew Futterman, New York Times, 5 Oct. 2020
Hosted by Sean, 44, the two-part documentary about his dad — who was tragically murdered outside his New York City apartment on Dec.8, 1980 — also features memories from his elder brother, Julian Lennon, and godfather Elton John.
—Phil Boucher, PEOPLE.com, 23 Sep. 2020
The new generation of progressives in the city, godfathered by Garcia, and represented in the March elections by Alma Anaya, Aaron Ortiz, and Beatriz Frausto, is a force to be reckoned with within the party.
—Jacqueline Serrato, chicagotribune.com, 25 Apr. 2018
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'godfather.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Godfather.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/godfather. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
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