goodwill

noun

good·​will ˌgu̇d-ˈwil How to pronounce goodwill (audio)
1
a
: a kindly feeling of approval and support : benevolent interest or concern
people of goodwill
b(1)
: the favor or advantage that a business has acquired especially through its brands and its good reputation
(2)
: the value of projected earnings increases of a business especially as part of its purchase price
(3)
: the excess of the purchase price of a company over its book value which represents the value of goodwill as an intangible asset for accounting purposes
2
a
: cheerful consent
accepted the terms of the contract with goodwill
b
: willing effort
good-willed adjective
or less commonly goodwilled

Examples of goodwill in a Sentence

She has goodwill toward all her coworkers. They allowed him to keep the extra money as a gesture of goodwill.
Recent Examples on the Web And plenty of goodwill is generated in Downtown Nashville barroom conversations, one of the fundamentals of CRS that hasn’t changed all that much. Tom Roland, Billboard, 6 Mar. 2024 The filing late Thursday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission included a $2.4 billion goodwill impairment charge, meaning that the bank is reassessing the value of its assets. Michelle Chapman, Quartz, 1 Mar. 2024 But with the help of researchers and the goodwill of governments around the world as well as the art world, these challenges can once again be overcome. Howard N. Spiegler, Fortune Europe, 23 Feb. 2024 China has been lending pandas to the U.S. for more than five decades as a sign of goodwill between the countries, but doubts about the future of the loans grew after several pandas were returned to China in the past few years. Summer Lin, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2024 China’s government had goodwill toward Taiwan’s people but will never tolerate Taiwan’s disregard for the safety of Chinese fishermen, the office added. Reuters, NBC News, 18 Feb. 2024 As a result, such a move may not buy Israel much immediate goodwill among the Palestinian population or the rest of the world. Raphael S. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 16 Feb. 2024 The improved operating performance was mainly because FY22’s operating income included $2.8 billion of goodwill impairments. Joe Cornell, Forbes, 15 Feb. 2024 Not since Anne Hathaway has an Oscar contender lost so much goodwill simply by campaigning so hard. Vulture, 3 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'goodwill.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of goodwill was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near goodwill

Cite this Entry

“Goodwill.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/goodwill. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

goodwill

noun
good·​will -ˈwil How to pronounce goodwill (audio)
1
: kindly feeling : benevolence
2
: the value of the trade a business has built up
3
a
: cheerful consent
b
: willing effort

Legal Definition

goodwill

noun
good·​will ˈgu̇d-ˌwil How to pronounce goodwill (audio)
1
: an intangible asset that is made up of the favor or prestige which a business has acquired beyond the mere value of what it sells due to the personality or experience of those conducting it, their reputation for skill or dependability, the business's location, or any other circumstance incidental to the business that tends to draw and retain customers
2
a
: the value of projected increases in the earnings of a business especially as part of its purchase price
b
: the excess of the purchase price of a business above the value assigned for tax purposes to its other net assets

Note: The Internal Revenue Code requires the purchaser of a business to allocate the purchase price among the various types of assets. Frequently the purchase price is greater than the sum of the values of the individual assets. The excess is labeled goodwill. Because of its indefinite life, goodwill is not amortizable as an asset. The purchaser will therefore usually try to keep the allocation to goodwill as small as possible.

More from Merriam-Webster on goodwill

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