do-gooders
Idealistic volunteer types
Do-gooders are people who try to help others or improve society, but the term carries a dismissive or mocking edge—implying naivety, self-righteousness, or impractical idealism: The do-gooders want to ban everything fun.
Someone using the term usually thinks the efforts are misguided, intrusive, or motivated by a desire to feel virtuous rather than to accomplish real change.
One who contributes freely
- benefactorOne who gives aid
- patronRegular supporter or customer
- charitableGiving to those needing
- foundationUnderlying support structure
endowment · grantmaking · fundraiser · humanitarian · NGO · relief work · aid worker · sponsor
Impractically perfect in conception
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
- dreamerOne given to fantasies
- optimistHabitually hopeful person
- principledHaving strong moral beliefs
virtuous · righteous · well-meaning · earnest · sincere · hopeful · aspirational · naive
Public cause supporter
- campaignerOne who advocates publicly
- protesterOne who publicly opposes
- organizerArrangement tool or person
- reformerAgent of institutional improvement
crusader · champion · volunteer · nonprofit · grassroots · lobbying · petition · boycott
Intrusive meddler
- meddlerOne who interferes uninvited
- interferingIntruding in others' affairs
- patronizingTreating someone as inferior
- condescendingSuperior and dismissive manner
virtue signaling · performative · smug · self-satisfied · savior complex · white savior · missionary zeal · judgmental
donor
One who contributes freely
- benefactorOne who gives aid
- patronRegular supporter or customer
- charitableGiving to those needing
foundation · endowment · grantmaking · fundraiser · humanitarian · NGO · relief work · aid worker · sponsor · contributor
utopian
Impractically perfect in conception
- visionaryImaginative planner of futures
- dreamerOne given to fantasies
- optimistHabitually hopeful person
principled · virtuous · righteous · well-meaning · earnest · sincere · hopeful · aspirational · naive · starry-eyed
advocate
Public cause supporter
- campaignerOne who advocates publicly
- protesterOne who publicly opposes
- organizerArrangement tool or person
reformer · crusader · champion · volunteer · nonprofit · grassroots · lobbying · petition · boycott · rally
busybody
Intrusive meddler
- meddlerOne who interferes uninvited
- interferingIntruding in others' affairs
- patronizingTreating someone as inferior
condescending · virtue signaling · performative · smug · self-satisfied · savior complex · white savior · missionary zeal · judgmental · preachy
- heroeshero, heroes, heroine, heroines, superhero
- moral exemplarsGandhi, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, saints
- reformersreformers, reformer, social reformers, social reformer, political reformer
do-goodersevildoers
Those who do wrong
wrongdoers · villains · malefactors · bad actors · ne'er-do-wells
do-gooderscynics
Doubters of sincerity
pessimists · nihilists · misanthropes · skeptics · fatalists
do-goodersbystanders
People present but uninvolved
free riders · shirkers · slackers · fence-sitters · armchair critics