goodness
n
1 [U] quality of being good; virtue; kindness (to sb) 善良; 美德; (對某人的)好意
praise God for his goodness and mercy 贊美上帝的仁慈和憐憫
In spite of the bad things he's done I still believe in his essential goodness. 盡管他做了壞事, 我仍然相信他本質是善良的.
her goodness to her old parents 她對年邁雙親的孝心.
2 [U] quality that nourishes sb/sth or helps growth (滋養某人[某事物]或助其成長的)養分, 精華
Much of the goodness in food may be lost in cooking. 食物在烹調中可能失去許多養分.
Brown bread is full of goodness. 黑面包富於營養.
soil with a lot of goodness in it 含大量養分的土壤.
3 [sing] (euph 婉) (used in exclamations instead of `God' 用於感嘆句, 代替God一詞)
Goodness, what a big toy! , 多大的玩具呀!
Thank goodness! ie expressing relief 謝天謝地!
For goodness' sake! ie expressing protest 看在老天爺的分上!(表示抗議)
My goodness!/Goodness me!/Goodness gracious (me)! ie expressing surprise 天哪!(表示驚異).
4 (idm 習語) God/goodness/Heaven knows => know. have the goodness to do sth (fml 文) (used when requesting sb to do sth 用於請求某人做某事)
Have the goodness to step this way, please. 勞駕, 請這邊走. honest to God/goodness => honest. to God/goodness/Heaven => god.