noun
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a stupid or deliberately foolish person
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informal a thug hired to commit acts of violence or intimidation, esp in an industrial dispute
noun
Usage
What does goon mean? Don't be a goon! That is, don't be a "fool" or an "oaf."Hired muscle, gangsters, and tough-guy hockey players are often called goons, too.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of goon
First recorded in 1920–25; shortened from dialectal gooney, variant of obsolete gony “a simpleton” (of unknown origin); influenced by the comic-strip character Alice the Goon in the series Thimble Theatre by E. C. Segar (1894–1938), American cartoonist
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:
Doubling Starlink subscriptions to 12 million from a year earlier pales in comparison with talk about life on Mars and social-media posts highlighting AI goon slop.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
Talking to AFP, he initially insisted: "I'm a goon, and I'm proud to say that."
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
Private sector workers won the right to form unions and strike under the National Labor Relations Board, largely ending the union-busting and goon violence of decades past.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2025
Now there’s a ham-fisted goon in an ill-fitting valet attendant’s coat rummaging in broad daylight through all of the keys—all of that private information, previously given in trust, handled with care, and regulated by law.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2025
The goon hadn’t murdered Lice Peeking, as Shelly had thought, but he had scared the bodily fluids out of him.
From "Flush" by Carl Hiaasen
Marius, 27, one of five goons who agreed to speak with AFP on condition that their names were changed, has been doing the job since he was 17.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
As the Bank of Southwark went public in Philadelphia, investors hired muscular goons to sign their names into the subscription books conferring the right to buy shares.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
The "Gen Z" movement alleges, however, that paid goons had looted various buildings in order to undermine their cause.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025
But at least the good people of D.C. probably no longer have to worry about Eagle Ed and his goons banging down their doors because they tweeted something mean about Elon Musk.
From Slate ● May 10, 2025
There was an opening to the street not too far away, but the question was whether they could outrun Mr. Remora and his goons for the second time that night.
From "Book Scavenger" by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
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.
