as in stick-in-the-mud
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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Dissimilar Words
1
as in pious
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Dissimilar Words
2
as in priggish
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of goody-goody
Karen D'souza, The Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2024
But the tension between evil Max and goody-goody Pippa makes my heart do backflips.
—Fletcher Peters, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2024
Advertisement Gwen Grastorf’s embodiment of the scheming goody-goody Arsinoë is a tad stagy, but the character is still a fine foil for the quick-witted Célimène.
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
The Trump rule presumed these goody-goody considerations got in the way of profitability and that a retirement adviser who accommodated them couldn’t fulfill his professional responsibility to maximize his client’s return.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 3 Mar. 2023
Adjective
This somewhat spotty touring production stars Lauren Samuels as the misunderstood villain Elphaba and Austen Danielle Bohmer as the goody-goody Glinda, the iconic characters originally played by Idina Mendel and Kristin Chenoweth.
—Karen D'souza, The Mercury News, 31 Aug. 2024
But the tension between evil Max and goody-goody Pippa makes my heart do backflips.
—Fletcher Peters, Vulture, 1 Aug. 2024
Advertisement Gwen Grastorf’s embodiment of the scheming goody-goody Arsinoë is a tad stagy, but the character is still a fine foil for the quick-witted Célimène.
—Celia Wren, Washington Post, 4 May 2023
The Trump rule presumed these goody-goody considerations got in the way of profitability and that a retirement adviser who accommodated them couldn’t fulfill his professional responsibility to maximize his client’s return.
—Timothy Noah, The New Republic, 3 Mar. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goody-goody
Noun
-
Bostwick starred as the naive stick-in-the-mud and fiancé of Janice, Brad.—
Skyler Trepel,
PEOPLE,
31 Oct. 2025
-
In the Herbert Ross film, Bacon played big-city teen Ren McCormack, who moves to the small town of Bomont, where its stick-in-the-mud local minster, the Rev. Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), has instituted a ban on dancing.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
9 Nov. 2023
Adjective
-
The series follows young teens Agnes, dutiful and pious, and Daisy, a new arrival and convert from beyond Gilead’s borders.—
Jackie Strause,
HollywoodReporter,
26 Jan. 2026
-
Per the official logline, the series follows young teens Agnes, dutiful and pious, and Daisy, a new arrival and convert from beyond Gilead’s borders.—
Denise Petski,
Deadline,
26 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
Ghaywan’s script is explicit but never priggish in its moral standing, letting the outstanding performances drive home the perils of bigotry more than any grandstanding dialogue.—
Proma Khosla,
IndieWire,
25 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
Its menu features a wide variety of options for seafood lovers, including crab cakes, sablefish, pan-seared scallops, and a French onion filet.—
Michael Guise,
CBS News,
28 Jan. 2026
-
Many eventually settled in North Beach, or Little Italy, and wound up catching salmon in the summer and crab in the winter.—
Becky Duffett,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Adjective
-
The United States went to war in 2001 and 2003 with a very moralistic, very crusading view of war, a very black-and-white view that there were good guys and bad guys, and America would wield the swift sword of justice.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
10 Jan. 2026
-
To rebuild a consensus, politicians must thus appeal to these swing voters by eschewing moralistic and globalist rhetoric.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
16 Dec. 2025
Adjective
-
Statistics like these have become part of a discussion about whether the culture is growing prudish and puritanical.—
Faith Hill,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2026
-
My favorite stereotype is the one where Germans think Americans are prudish.—
Deborah Treisman,
New Yorker,
21 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
For someone who’s constantly on speakerphone, Tommy sure is a fuddy-duddy about using it correctly.—
William Earl,
Variety,
30 Nov. 2025
-
Her characters were women whose roles often implied their own eventual replacements: teachers, fading former love interests, fuddy-duddy old-fashioned relics.—
Kathryn VanArendonk,
Vulture,
27 Sep. 2024
Adjective
-
This identity resonates most strongly with MAGA Hardliners and Anti-Woke Conservatives, who believe that the political left has become a sanctimonious elite imposing its worldview on everyone else.—
Daniel Yudkin,
The Atlantic,
24 Jan. 2026
-
This book exists, in other words, in order for Karp to have written a book … The book is filled with this sort of sanctimonious guff.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Goody-goody.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goody-goody. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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