Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Good-natured \Good`-na"tured\, a. Naturally mild in temper; not easily provoked; amiable; cheerful; not taking offense easily; as, too good-natured to resent a little criticism; the good-natured policeman on our block; the sounds of good-natured play. Opposite of ill-natured. [Narrower terms: equable, even-tempered, good-tempered, placid ] Also See: {kind, pleasant, agreeable, good-natured, pleasing.
2. to one's own liking or feelings or nature; pleasing; -- of people. Opposite of disagreeable.
Syn: agreeable, pleasing.
Syn: Good-natured, Good-tempered, Good-humored.
Usage: Good-natured denotes a disposition to please and be pleased. Good-tempered denotes a habit of mind which is not easily ruffled by provocations or other disturbing influences. Good-humored is applied to a spirit full of ease and cheerfulness, as displayed in one's outward deportment and in social intercourse. A good-natured man recommends himself to all by the spirit which governs him. A good-humored man recommends himself particularly as a companion. A good-tempered man is rarely betrayed into anything which can disturb the serenity of the social circle.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
Wiktionary
a. Of or pertaining to an amicable, kindly disposition.
WordNet
adj. having an easygoing and cheerful disposition; "too good-natured to resent a little criticism"; "the good-natured policeman on our block"; "the sounds of good-natured play" [ant: ill-natured]
Usage examples of "good-natured".
His long, good-natured face was seamed with age around the eyes and brow, and his short beard and the curling hair that thickly fringed his balding pate were silvery white, yet he stood as straight and easy as Alec himself.
I understood that the good-natured and witty profligate had a very natural prejudice against indulging his amorous feelings except when he was certain of being alone.
Then I lay down and began to consider whether the good-natured young man would prevent me committing suicide, as he had already made me postpone it.
Now Lord Bowland might not be handsome, but he had a pleasing countenance and fine eyes, was good-natured and amiable, and overall, a very lively fellow.
I then danced with all the ladies present until the good-natured old man got me the object of my vows as a partner in the quadrilles, which he did so easily that no one could have made any remark.
Wrotsleys and their cousin, foreseeing the long foodless drive home, had each quietly pocketed an extra peach, but it was distinctly trying for Dolores and the fat and good-natured Agnes Blaik to be left with one peach between them.
The almost continuous exchange of encrypted human information--bearings, timing, logistic concerns, and good-natured jibes--passing between the divers, the Hawkbill, and the Rush-more now gave way to the sound of automated machines.
The satirist is often good-natured, the ironist tends to be savage and bitter.
From the panorama of these ten mischanced years the face of Ben Jope shone out as in a halo, wreathed with good-natured smiles.
Had he known what was coming, he would have used his knobkerrie to that end upon the instant, for Doc had been smitten by another of those brilliant ideas that had made him famous and feared at school as a practical joker--though it is only fair to record that his jokes had always been harmless and good-natured ones until he had met Intamo.
The giant, Koku, for that was his name, smiled in a good-natured way, reminding one of an overgrown boy.
Gar-Osgardyen Osgard, King and Father of Lyff, was, as has been mentioned, a most good-natured and progressive gentleman.
I think I should have found her a good bargain, but as I wanted to get away from Pavia, and piqued myself on having been good-natured without ulterior motive, I bade her farewell after supper, with many thanks for her kindness in coming.
The younger talked of life up here, of the events the changing seasons brought in their course, of various personalities among the patients, of the pneumothorax, the functioning of which he explained at length, describing the ghastly nature of the pleura-shock, and citing the case of the good-natured Herr Ferge, with the three-coloured fainting-fits, the hallucinatory stench, and the diabolic laughing-fit when they felt over the pleura.
Leipsic, after saying, in a good-natured way, that Psora is the Devil in medicine, and that physicians are divided on this point into diabolists and exorcists, declares that, according to a remark of Hahnemann, the whole civilized world is affected with Psora.