good-natured

good-natured — adjective

1. having a naturally friendly and cheerful character — someone who stays calm and

1.adjectiveB2
Definition

having a naturally friendly and cheerful character — someone who stays calm and pleasant even when things go wrong or people behave badly.

Example

Ravi is a good-natured man who enjoys joking with his coworkers and never takes offense.

attributive: good-natured + noun

Despite the long delay at the airport, most passengers stayed good-natured and patient.

predicative: stayed + good-natured

Common collocations
  • good-natured person / man / woman / girl / boy
  • good-natured smile / laugh / grin
  • good-natured teasing / banter / joking
  • good-natured (of) + crowd / group / passengers
  • stay / remain / seem + good-natured
  • so good-natured that...
Synonyms
  • kind

    more general; does not specifically imply cheerfulness or patience under stress

  • easygoing

    emphasizes not getting stressed or annoyed, but less emphasis on active warmth toward others

  • good-humored

    focuses more on cheerfulness and the tendency to laugh or see the positive side

  • sweet-tempered

    more informal; suggests a gentle, patient nature that rarely gets angry

Antonyms
  • bad-tempered

    easily annoyed or angry, the opposite disposition

  • ill-natured

    more formal; describes someone who is deliberately unpleasant or unkind

  • grumpy

    informal; someone who complains often and is in a bad mood

Usage Note

Can be used both attributively (before a noun) and predicatively (after a linking verb). Describes a stable personality trait, not a temporary mood.

Common Mistakes

She is good-natured person.
She is a good-natured person.
When used attributively, the article a/an is required before the noun.
He felt good-natured today.
He is good-natured.
The adjective describes a lasting character trait, not a passing feeling.

Word family

  • good-naturedly
    adverbB2
  • good-naturedness
    nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe a pleasant personality, but good-natured combines kindness with a calm, cheerful disposition that stays steady under pressure. Kind is broader — it emphasises caring about others' feelings, but a kind person can still be serious or anxious. Easygoing focuses on not getting stressed or annoyed by problems, yet it can sound a little passive. Good-humored highlights cheerfulness and the ability to laugh at situations rather than complain. Sweet-tempered is warmer and more gentle, often used for someone who is patient and rarely angry. A good-natured person, by contrast, is both warm and unshakeable: they are actively pleasant with others AND remain calm when things go wrong. For example, you could call a colleague easygoing if they take changes in stride, but you would call them good-natured if they also greet every team member with a genuine smile.

kind ↗easygoing ↗good-humoredsweet-tempered

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • good-natured about something
  • in a good-natured way

Etymology

Old EnglishLatinFrenchEnglish

Formed in English from the adjective 'good' (Old English gōd, meaning 'virtuous, desirable') + 'nature' (from Latin nātūra via Old French, meaning 'character, disposition') + the suffix '-ed', which turns the noun phrase into an adjective meaning 'having a ___ nature'. The compound 'good-natured' first appeared in the 1500s and was well established by the 1700s to describe someone with a pleasant and kindly disposition.