goober
Americannoun
-
goobers
plural
noun
Usage
What does goober mean? Goober is an informal name for a peanut. The peanut is sometimes also called the goober pea. Goober is also used as a slang term for an unsophisticated, goofy person, especially one from a rural area, somewhat similar to the term bumpkin. Goober is primarily used in the Southern and Midland United States. Example: I can’t wait to get some boiled goobers at a roadside stand when I go back home to Georgia.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of goober
First recorded in 1825–35; of Bantu origin; compare Kongo, Kimbundu nguba “peanut”
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:
Welsh Fire's Jonny Bairstow gives Jamie Smith a reprieve after dropping a "goober" of a catch to leave the London Spirit batsman at the crease in the Men's Hundred at Sophia Gardens.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2025
It comes off as goober posturing, not worthy of the sixth-most populous county in the nation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2024
This time, the giant goober is made of sheet metal, not fiberglass.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
Tall, sandy-haired and soft-spoken at 37, Mr. Dedman exudes the image of a down-home goober — his word — that barely papers over a sharp, analytical mind.
From New York Times ● Jan. 2, 2019
Meanwhile, I just stood there in front of the meetinghouse like a goober as the crowd thinned out around me.
From "Glitch" by Laura Martin
Out-of-town goobers and locals alike hike up to various vantage points around it for a selfie or group shot.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2025
A serpent-tongued viper might call these true believers goobers, rubes, suckers, and dupes, but what good would it do?
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2024
An exasperated local school teacher explained the dilemma while visiting the postmaster in nearby Weaverville, who was snacking on a sack of goobers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2020
And so, after the show, a group of us -- some clearly with connections and some just randomly selected goobers like us -- found ourselves ushered through the bowels of the Prudential Center.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2011
We didn’t know what to say to this, so we all just kind of smiled like goobers.
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
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.
