the good doctor
37
5.6
- noun
- Everyone in town respects the good doctor for his dedication to helping others.
- like the good doctor
- the good doctor wants
- the good doctor, said
Examples
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Let's go pay the good doctor a visit.
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- Let's leave the good doctor to his work.
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- So this is the good doctor? -
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Not much is known about the good doctor.
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How long have you known the good doctor?
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I read that the good doctor was to be married today.
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Perhaps the good doctor will tell us.
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This group, and the good doctor, have helped me to cope with my pain.
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How's the good doctor doing this evening?
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Meet the good doctor.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A person who treats sick or injured people
∞
1.0
A person who is trained to treat people when they are sick
972
7.8
A person who treats sick or injured people
537
3.8
A doctor who finds what is wrong and treats sick or injured people
52
3.5
A doctor qualified to treat patients
4
7.7
A man who is a doctor often appears in old books or stories
2
8.3
A doctor who treats sick or hurt people
1
9.8
A doctor who treats people
How Respected
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly and transparently derived from the constituents: 'good' (positive quality) modifies 'doctor' (physician), and the definite article 'the' picks out a specific individual, so a learner who knows the words will infer a respected or admired physician. This adjectival evaluative pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g. 'el buen doctor', 'le bon docteur'), making it readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
The good doctor comes from a simple town scene: people who were helped called a doctor good to mean he was kind and skilled, and doctor is the healer. So the good doctor is a polite, warm way to call a doctor, showing 'respect' or 'affection'.