good riddance meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

good riddance

intj

UK /ˌɡʊd ˈɹɪd(ə)n(t)s/ · US /ˌɡʊd ˈɹɪdn̩(t)s/

Etymology From good + riddance (“act of ridding or removal; relief involving getting rid of something”), possibly influenced by the earlier obsolete terms fair riddance and gentle riddance.

Used to indicate that a departure or loss is welcome.

I couldn’t be more glad to see the back of them. Good riddance, I say.
Goodbye and good riddance!

3 more examples

Mrs Inconſiderate, alſo replyed, ſaying, avvay vvith ſuch Fantaſtical Fools from the Tovvn, a good riddance, for my par[t], I ſay, of her. Should ſhe ſtay vvhere ſhe dvvels, and retain this her mind, vvho could live quietly by her? for ſhe vvill either be dumpiſh or unneighbourly, or talk of ſuch matters as no vviſe body can abide: […]1684, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress. From This World to That which is to Come: The Second Part. […], London: […] Nathaniel Ponder […], →OCLC, page 17:
And the nephew says good riddance, / And the uncle says good riddance, / And the Aunt, she says good riddance, / And the cousins say good riddance, / All the household in a chorus, / Singing in a household chorus, / Bid the boys good bye, and also— / Bid the boys good riddance also, / "No more walking says the uncle— / Walking up and down the school room / Teaching little boys their letters, / Bothering my brains with school boys, / Bothering their brains with letters.["]1859 January 1 (date written), James Brown Kendall, “Letter to J. W. B., on His Giving Up His School and Becoming Representative”, in Poems, Framingham, Mass.: J. C. Clark, […], published 1878, →OCLC, pages 48–49:
After 50 years of farming, [Maurice] Fisch too has left the ostrich business, and says good riddance. […] Ostriches, says Fisch, are "stupid birds that just had nice feathers."2020 August 4, Richard Conniff, “They may Look Goofy, but Ostriches are Nobody’s Fool”, in National Geographic, Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, published September 2020, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 27 Feb 2021:

Derived terms: good riddance of bad rubbish, good riddance to bad rubbish
Coordinate terms: and nothing of value was lost, at last, at long last, finally, it's about time

good riddance

noun

Etymology From good + riddance (“act of ridding or removal; relief involving getting rid of something”), possibly influenced by the earlier obsolete terms fair riddance and gentle riddance.

A welcome departure or loss.

The fortification whereof he last advertised has required more time than he expected, "or in good riddance needed."1597 August 13 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Thomas Burgh, 3rd Baron Burgh, “The Lord Deputy Burgh to Sir Robert Cecil”, in Ernest George Atkinson, editor, Calendar of the State Papers, Relating to Ireland, of the Reign of Elizabeth, 1596, July – 1597, December. […], volume [VI], Nendeln, Eschen, Leichtenstein: Kraus Reprint, Kraus-Thomson Organization, published 1974, →OCLC, paragraph 72, page 364:
Ther[sites]. I vvill ſee you hang'd like Clatpoles, ere I come any more to your tents, I vvill keepe vvhere there is vvit ſtirring, and leaue the faction of fooles. Exit. / Patro[clus]. A good riddance.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Famous Historie of Troylus and Cresseid. […] (First Quarto), London: […] G[eorge] Eld for R[ichard] Bonian and H[enry] Walley, […], published 1609, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], signature D, recto:

4 more examples

There's no Body ſo Happy in his Family and Friends, but that ſome of them vvhen they ſee him going, vvill vviſh for a good Riddance, and almoſt keep a Holy Day for his Death: […]1701, Marcus Antoninus [i.e., Marcus Aurelius], “Book X”, in Jeremy Collier, transl., The Emperor Marcus Antoninus His Conversation with Himself. […], London: […] Richard Sare, […], →OCLC, paragraph XXXVI, page 200:
[T]o tell you my mind, Lucretia, I think it's a good riddance. I don't want any of your brazen faces here, myself!1846 October 1 – 1848 April 1, Charles Dickens, “Mr. Dombey and the World”, in Dombey and Son, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1848, →OCLC, page 510:
Compeyson took it easy as a good riddance for both sides.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter III, in Great Expectations […], volume III, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 50:
Lt. Saito and Bucktooth Kasuya left camp on October 12—good riddances. But Saito was back twelve days later and decided the barracks area of my chow section was not clean enough. Shiozawa had me sweep it up.2003, Herbert Zincke, with Scott A. Mills, “Never Enough to Eat: January 1, 1944, to October 31, 1944”, in Mitsui Madhouse: Memoir of a U.S. Army Air Corps POW in World War II, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 105: