goo
Americannoun
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a thick or sticky substance.
Wash that goo off your hands.
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maudlin sentimentality.
noun
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a sticky or viscous substance
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coy or sentimental language or ideas
Etymology
Origin of goo
1910–15, perhaps short for burgoo
Explanation
Any kind of drippy, yucky, gunky stuff can be called goo. Some people love tapioca pudding, while others feel that it's nothing but lumpy goo. The filling in a donut is one kind of goo — custard or jelly that oozes out when you take a bite. An unidentified blob of slime on the sidewalk or the glistening trail left behind by a slug, are other, much less appealing kinds of goo. Goo was coined in the US, but its origins beyond that are unclear. Many experts think gooey came first, possibly shortened from the now-obsolete burgoo, or "porridge."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When the ROV returns, there is an excited dash for the samples including seawater, sediment and a forearm-length sea lily coated with dripping orange goo.
From Barron's • Jan. 26, 2026
Trefry likened this awkward time of life to the stage in a butterfly’s development when a caterpillar disappears inside a chrysalis and dissolves into goo before reforming into something entirely new.
From Salon • Nov. 24, 2025
But Baltimore has no spirit without him; the offense turns to goo and the vibes get worse.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 6, 2025
The problem, though, is that the brick-coloured goo, which is dried into a powder, looks distinctly unappetising – even less appetising than the freeze-dried fare that astronauts currently have to put up with.
From BBC • Apr. 21, 2025
He jumped up and did a flip in midair to avoid the goo.
From "Trouble at the Arcade (The Hardy Boys: Secret Files, #1)" by Franklin W. Dixon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
