as in crabs
informal + disapproving
a person (such as a child) whose good behavior and politeness are annoying because they seem to be excessive or not sincere
The other kids don't like her because she's a goody-goody.
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goody-goodies
Noun
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Choices from its prix fixe menu include savory olive bread pudding with mushrooms and leeks, Maryland soft-shell crabs wrapped in phyllo dough and bourbon-cacao cake.—
Jane Godiner,
Baltimore Sun,
29 Apr. 2026 -
The tide pools around Haystack and elsewhere along Cannon Beach are extraordinary, with colorful sea stars, anemones, crabs, snails, coral, sponges, and sea slugs.—
Kara Williams,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Some resorts in the Mamanuca Islands are set to lose entire wings to the sea in the coming years, and drinking water in villages is already being infiltrated by salt from seawater seeping into ground bores.—
MIchelle Duff,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Apr. 2026
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Her books were their progeny, Stein acknowledged, and without Alice’s mothering—and typing, proofreading, cooking, sewing, shopping, bookkeeping, and warding off bores—they might not have been born.—
Judith Thurman,
New Yorker,
29 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The pervasive popularity of the show and its creator will be the reason the complainers have no voice.—
Rich Heldenfels,
Boston Herald,
22 Mar. 2026
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If family needs cause drama, set kind boundaries and explain them to any complainers.—
Tarot.com,
New York Daily News,
2 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Of course, cynics would say this is an easy way to get laughs, but Galifianakis’ quick wit ensures the unfiltered youngsters don’t always take center stage.—
Jon O'Brien,
IndieWire,
22 Apr. 2026
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The cynics are figures like Sam Bankman-Fried, who built a fortune off of a crypto exchange called FTX, which crashed and burned in the fall of 2022, eventually sending Bankman-Fried to prison for fraud.—
Jack Crosbie,
Rolling Stone,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The spoilsports need to get back to their home state and do the job which their constituents elected them to do.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
8 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Goody-goodies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goody-goodies. Accessed 4 May. 2026.
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