coon
Americannoun
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coons
plural
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Informal. raccoon.
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Slang: Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a Black person.
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Informal. a fellow, especially a rustic or undignified person.
Go home, you old coon!
noun
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informal short for raccoon
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offensive a Black person or a native Australian
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offensive a person of mixed race
Sensitivity
See coon's age.
Usage
What does coon mean? Content warning: this article includes content dealing with racism. Coon is an extremely offensive slur for a Black person. It’s rooted in the racist history of Blackface and comes from a shortening of raccoon.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of coon
An Americanism dating back to 1735–45; shortening of raccoon ( def. )
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.
See Examples For:
Party A and Party B agree to share physical custody and pet costs, including veterinary, medicine, and pet-food costs associated with Beatrice, a Maine coon cat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
“Beneath thick stands of Carolina pine, past the sheds where the coon dogs howl, a brook tumbles out of the Brushy Mountains bringing a refreshing coolness to the meadows of Ingle Hollow,” Glick wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2023
Famed Twitter Maine coon Lorenzo the Cat shared the story of Aleksandra Polischuk, a breeder of sphinx cats who was killed when her home was destroyed.
From Slate ● Mar. 2, 2022
He thought that Emma, his Maine coon, would like it, too.
From New York Times ● Jan. 21, 2020
He told how some strange varmint that wasn’t a coyote, possum, skunk, or coon had recently started robbing the settlement blind.
From "Old Yeller" by Fred Gipson
One of the nine detected variants was associated with polycystic kidney disease, which is unexpected in Maine coons.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 23, 2022
Of the 90 different breeds represented by the participating pedigreed cats, Maine coons had the highest number of disease-associated gene variants.
From Scientific American ● Jun. 23, 2022
He talked to the students about how he trains the hounds to hunt coons and that dogs do not automatically know.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 1, 2018
As many as 4 out of 5 raccoons carry this parasite, and infected coons typically poop out thousands, if not millions, of eggs a day—perhaps right on your lawn.
From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2015
Papa laughed and said, “Well, if you can keep the coons out of those big sycamores, you might make a little money.”
From "Where the Red Fern Grows" by Wilson Rawls
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
