goner
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of goner
Explanation
A goner is someone or something that can't be saved — it's lost, or doomed. When you know your video game character is about to die, it's clear she's a goner. The informal goner is great for describing a person who's desperate or ill-fated. If you narrowly avoid a bad car accident, you might say, "I thought I was a goner," and if your cat catches a small bird, you can be fairly certain it's a goner. Goner is a colloquial American word that stems from the earlier terms "gone goose" and "gone coon," which have the same meaning.
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 a tree has 25 or more exit holes, it’s probably a goner, Durbin said.
From Los Angeles Times • May 28, 2024
I kept thinking: "If the next vehicle comes down the hill, the driver will struggle to see me and I will be a goner."
From BBC • Jan. 13, 2024
It’s a goner, he thought — far too damaged to even think about trying to repair.
From Washington Post • Nov. 6, 2022
Then when the camera lingered on his departure from Dragonstone, until the little boy on his little dragon faded into the night, I was sure he was a goner.
From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2022
“And we were kind of right, weren’t we? He wouldn’t be giving you lessons if he thought you were a goner, wouldn’t waste his time — he must think you’ve got a chance!”
From "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" by J.K. Rowling
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.
