goldilocks

gold·i·locks

G g

Transcription

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- UK Pronunciation
- UK IPA
- [gohl-dee-loks]
- /ˈgoʊl diˌlɒks/
- /ˈgəʊldɪlɔks/

- US Pronunciation
- US IPA
- [gohl-dee-loks]
- /ˈgoʊl diˌlɒks/

Definitions of goldilocks word

noun plural goldilocks (used with a singular verb) a person with golden hair. 1
adjective goldilocks (usually initial capital letter) not being extreme or not varying drastically between extremes, especially between hot and cold: a Goldilocks economy that is neither overheated nor too cold to cause a recession; a goldilocks planet such as Earth. See also Goldilocks zone. 1
noun goldilocks A person with golden hair. 1
noun goldilocks a Eurasian plant, Aster linosyris (or Linosyris vulgaris), with clusters of small yellow flowers: family Asteraceae (composites) 0
noun goldilocks a Eurasian ranunculaceous woodland plant, Ranunculus auricomus, with yellow flowers 0
noun goldilocks a person, esp a girl, with light blond hair 0

See all 9 definitions of goldilocks

Information block about the term

Origin of goldilocks

First appearance:

before 1540

One of the 30% oldest English words

1540-50; obsolete goldy golden + lock2 + -s3; from the fairy tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears, in which the golden-haired Goldilocks rejects uncomfortable extremes, as porridge that is too hot or too cold

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Goldilocks

noun

adjective

verb

adverb

pronoun

preposition

conjunction

determiner

exclamation

Full grammatical hierarchy of Goldilocks

goldilocks popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 34% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.

Most Europeans know this English word. The frequency of it’s usage is somewhere between "mom" and "screwdriver".

goldilocks usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer