goober
Americannoun
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.
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.
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
When he stepped off his bike, the waistline of his slacks was way higher than normal, but somehow he still managed to look manly and stylish and not like a total goober.
From "The Mark of Athena" by Rick Riordan
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.
