goner
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
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.
Yuga Labs addressed the theory earlier this year, calling it “deeply painful,” and co-founder Gordon Goner offered a long rebuttal to Ripps’ allegations in a blog post on Medium.
From The Verge • Jun. 28, 2022
I hate to admit that I’ve become a Goner, but it happened.
From The Verge • Nov. 23, 2021
To flip through the bins of seven-inches at Shangri-La or Goner Records is to feel the weight of Southern, which is to say American, musical history, gospel to blues to soul.
From New York Times • Jan. 29, 2010
“The Buccaneer Bar,” said Sam Burnett, a clerk at Goner, which achieved national attention as the label of the late garage rocker Jay Reatard.
From New York Times • Jan. 29, 2010
Goner In Allenwood, N. J., a relief nurse at the Monmouth County Hospital saw James Garriel's bed empty, asked the outgoing nurse: "Is he gone?"
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
