good-natured
adj/ɡʊdˈneɪtʃəd/
1
Having or showing an amicable, kindly disposition.
- “It is singular,” said the Lady, addressing Warden; “the animal is not only so good-natured to all, but so particularly fond of children.[…]”1820, [Walter Scott], chapter I, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 22:
- For the people who were shovelling away on the house-tops were jovial and full of glee; calling out to one another from the parapets, and now and then exchanging a facetious snowball—better-natured missile far than many a wordy jest—laughing heartily if it went right, and not less heartily if it went wrong.1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Three. The Second of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. […], London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 81:
4 more examples
- There are a good many of these girls whom it is quite enough to spoil the temper of the best-natured woman in the world to have in the house with them.1852, [Richard Hildreth], chapter LI, in The White Slave; or, Memoirs of a Fugitive, Boston, Mass.: Tappan and Whittemore; Milwaukee, Wis.: Rood and Whittemore, page 332:
- Rasmus was a tall, powerful man, with a weather-beaten, furrowed face of a good-natured expression.1881, P. Chr. Asbjörnsen [i.e., Peter Christen Asbjørnsen], “Mackerel Trolling”, in H. L. Brækstad, transl., Round the Yule Log. Norwegian Folk and Fairy Tales, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, →OCLC, page 181:
- However, the immediate howls of outrage from the industry were in many cases less than good-natured.1964 August, “Dr. B lights a pre-election fuse”, in Modern Railways, page 76:
- I had a rival for Marcel’s affections, a boy who later became the king of recorded classical music and confrère of Herbert von Karajan. I was vile to this poor chap who, like a cheerful Papageno, was much better-natured than I was.2017, Charles Duff, “What About the Linen?”, in Charley’s Woods: Sex, Sorrow and a Spiritual Quest in Snowdonia, London: Zuleika, →ISBN, page 145:
- Derived terms
- good-naturedness
- Related terms
- good nature