Definitions and meaning of goon
goon
English
Etymology 1
Shortened from gooney, from obsolete gony (“simpleton”), used circa 1580, of unknown origin. Perhaps a familiar term derived from Middle English gone, a variant of gome (“man, person”). Gony was applied by sailors to the albatross and similar big, clumsy birds (circa 1839). The term goon first carried the meaning "stupid person" (circa 1921). Compare Scots goni, guni (“a bogey, bugbear, hobgoblin”), dialectal Swedish gonnar (“elves, goblins”, plural).
- Sense 1 ("hired thug"; circa 1938) is largely influenced by the comic strip character Alice the Goon from the Popeye series.
- Sense 3 ("fool") was reinforced by the popular radio program, The Goon Show, starring Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers.
- Sense 5 ("guard") was influenced by both sense 1 and sense 3, though not by The Goon Show reference, which arose about 10 years after WWII.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡuːn/
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- Rhymes: -uːn
Noun
goon (plural goons)
- A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence.
- (US, informal) A hired and paid person who is assigned to terrorize and kill opponents.
- A fool; someone who is silly, stupid, awkward, or outlandish.
- (ice hockey, derogatory) An enforcer or fighter.
- (UK, World War II, PoW slang) A German guard in a prisoner-of-war camp.
- (slang) One hired to legally kidnap a child and forcibly transport them to a boot camp, boarding school, wilderness therapy, or a similar rehabilitation facility.
- (Internet slang) A member of the comedy website Something Awful.
- Alternative form: Goon
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
Translations
Verb
goon (third-person singular simple present goons, present participle gooning, simple past and past participle gooned)
- (transitive, slang, ice hockey) To act like a goon; to act in an intimidating or aggressive way towards opponents.
- (neologism) To legally kidnap a child and forcibly transport them to a boot camp, boarding school, wilderness therapy, or a similar rehabilitation facility.
Derived terms
Etymology 2
Perhaps diminutive slang for flagon or from Aboriginal English goom.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡuːn/
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-
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- Rhymes: -uːn
Noun
goon (countable and uncountable, plural goons)
- (countable, Australia, informal) A wine flagon or cask.
- (uncountable, Australia, informal) Cheap or inferior cask wine.
Etymology 3
Borrowed from Japanese 呉音 (goon).
Alternative forms
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈɡəʊˌɒn/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈɡoʊˌɑn/
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- Rhymes: -əʊɒn
- Hyphenation: go‧on
- Homophone: go on
Noun
goon (uncountable)
- A Sino-Japanese kanji pronunciation layer, considered the first Sino-Japanese kanji reading type imported into Japan.
Etymology 4
Possibly derived from etymology 1, from sense 3 ("a fool; a stupid person"), or from sense 1 ("a thug").
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡuːn/
-
-
-
- Rhymes: -uːn
Verb
goon (third-person singular simple present goons, present participle gooning, simple past and past participle gooned)
- (Internet slang) To masturbate for long periods of time without reaching a climax.
- Near-synonym: edge
- (by extension, Internet slang) To masturbate.
Synonyms
- (to masturbate): fap; see also Thesaurus:masturbate
Derived terms
See also
Anagrams
- gono-, no go, no-go, nogo, noog, ongo, go on
Eastern Ojibwa
Noun
goon anim
- snow
References
- Jerry Randolph Valentine (2001) Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar, University of Toronto, page 117
Esperanto
Noun
goon
- accusative singular of goo
Japanese
Romanization
goon
- Rōmaji transcription of ごおん
Middle English
Verb
goon
- alternative form of gon (“to go”)
Ojibwe
Noun
goon anim (obviative goonan, diminutive goonens, locative gooning, distributive locative goonikaang)
- snow
Derived terms
Related terms
See also
References
- The Ojibwe People's Dictionary https://ojibwe.lib.umn.edu/main-entry/goon-na
Ottawa
Noun
goon anim
- snow
References
- Jerry Randolph Valentine (2001) Nishnaabemwin Reference Grammar, University of Toronto, page 117
Source: wiktionary.org