Goodnesses

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈɡʊdnəsɪz/

Definitions

1. The quality of being morally right or virtuous in character or behavior
2. the state of possessing positive attributes and moral excellence
3. various expressions or instances of kindness, benevolence, or moral integrity

Etymology: "Goodnesses" is simply the plural of "goodness," so it is the plural of a noun that came into English from Old English "gōdnes," meaning "goodness, virtue, kindness." That older word was built from "gōd" (good) and the suffix "-nes," the same suffix that gives modern English "-ness" in words like "darkness" or "happiness." Its roots run deep: related forms appear in Old High German, Middle High German, Scots and West Frisian, all meaning roughly "goodness." The plural form is the interesting part of this word's behaviour. Abstract nouns like "goodness" are normally uncountable, so speakers rarely pluralise them, and "goodnesses" is used mainly when people want to name separate instances of kindness, as in "all the goodnesses she showed us."

Synonyms: virtues, beneficences, kindnesses, moralities, decencies

Antonyms: wickednesses, evils, immoralities, badnesses, corruptions