goody-two-shoes

goody two-shoes

1. adjective (used as a modifier before a noun) Of or having prudish, self-righteous, or rigidly moral standards. Many have been critical of the agency as being nothing but a goody two-shoes organization more concerned with telling people how to behave than serving their best interests. Why do you want to be a hall monitor? It's a goody two-shoes job that annoys everyone. Will the new guy be a goody two-shoes kind of boss, or will he give us a decent amount of freedom?

2. An exceedingly or haughtily prudish, self-righteous, or rigidly moral person; someone who conforms inflexibly to the rules or the law. Mary is such a goody two-shoes, always squealing to the teacher when one of us does something against the rules. Our gang would have control of half the city if that goody two-shoes hadn't somehow gotten himself elected governor. Please, that goody two-shoes will never cut class with us.

See also: goody

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

goody-two-shoes

A self-righteous, smugly virtuous person. The term comes from the title and main character of a nursery tale, The History of Goody Two-Shoes (1765), believed to have been written by Oliver Goldsmith. She owned but a single shoe, and when she was given a pair of shoes she was so delighted that she showed them to everyone, saying, “Two shoes.” Today the term is often shortened to goody-goody, as in “She’s a real goody-goody, always playing up to her boss.”

The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer