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good faith

good faith

112 3.0
An honest, sincere intention not to deceive other people
  • noun
  • /ɡʊd feɪθ/
translation icon : buena fe
  • There's no reason to believe that the prosecution has not acted in good faith.
  • act in good faith
  • negotiate in good faith
  • good faith negotiations

And So what they felt was in good faith or bad faith, I don't know.

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Examples

  • The government and the Fed will not punish banks as long as they make a good faith effort to work with borrowers.

  • You went into this relationship in good faith and there were good days and those were real too.

  • You do it in good faith as children do most things.

  • I came to you in good faith.

  • But I, I, I do hear more people willing to ask the questions in good faith and to really try to engage.

  • India once again called for transparent, good faith negotiations to meet all concerns.

    Academic text (1997)
  • The employer was held to a duty of loyalty and good faith in dealing with the employee.

    Academic text (1996)
  • With new peace talks on the horizon, some sign of good faith by both rebel groups would also help.

    Academic text (1999)
  • They were made in good faith and on the basis of what I honestly knew and believed.

  • The lawyer acted in good faith when drafting the contract, ensuring both parties were treated fairly.

Synonyms

sincerity
vsgood faith
71 3.1

A feeling of being honest and not pretending

is about honest intention stressing absence of any attempt to deceive or defraud

How Sincere

good faith
112 3.0

Surface Forms

good faith singular
good faiths plural

Morphology

good + faith

The meaning 'honest or sincere intention' is directly and compositionally built from 'good' (positive, proper) modifying 'faith' (trust/confidence), so a learner who knows both words can infer a meaning of genuine or honest trust/intent. This adjectival + noun pattern is cross-linguistically common (e.g., Spanish 'buena fe', French 'bonne foi'), so the phrase is readily comprehensible to a B1 learner.

Etymology

Good faith comes from the simple idea that good means 'honest' and faith means 'trust'. Imagine someone giving a firm handshake to show they can be trusted; that picture explains why good faith means acting with 'honest' and 'sincere' intention, not trying to trick someone.