goon
Pluralgoons
Pluralgoons
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- 3In ice hockey, an unkind name for a player whose main job is to fight.
The team's goon spent more time in the penalty box than on the ice.
Every team in the league had a goon back then.
UsageInside hockey the polite word is enforcer. Goon is the unkind word.
Similarenforcer
Note
- 4A person who belongs to the comedy website Something Awful.
My uncle has been a goon on Something Awful for many years.
The goons on the Something Awful forums spent a whole weekend making funny pictures together.
Less common meanings
- 5In ice hockey, to play rough and try to scare or hurt the other team.
The losing hockey team began to goon it up, shoving players into the boards.
The coach told his players not to goon the other team, even after the bad hit.
UsageA team can goon it up, or goon the other team.
Similarintimidate, bully
- 6In Australia, cheap wine that comes in a box, or one box of it.
My mates brought a box of goon to the beach party.
Goon tastes terrible, but it's cheap.
UsageFor the wine, do not put a before goon: drink goon.
Similarplonk
Note
- 7To touch yourself sexually, especially for a long time while holding off a climax.
The news story was about young men who goon for hours online.
He said gooning had started to take over his free time.
Note
- 8A person paid to take a child by force to a special camp or school, with the parents' permission.
The goon told him to pack a bag. His parents were sending him to a camp in the woods.
She still remembers the night two goons took her from her bed to a special school far away.
Note
- 9To take a child by force to a special camp or school, with the parents' permission.
She was gooned from her bed when she was fifteen.
The company would goon kids whose parents were worried about them.
UsageMost often said as was gooned or got gooned.
Note
- 10A German guard in a camp for prisoners of war.
- 11An old way of saying Chinese characters in Japanese, thought to be the first one used in Japan.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origins
Short for gooney, an old word for a foolish person, of unknown origin. The "thug" meaning was helped by a Popeye comic character, Alice the Goon.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 3 facts
- Goon is shortened from gooney, an old word for a foolish person, whose ultimate origin is unknown. en.wiktionary.org
- Alice the Goon is a Popeye comic character. en.wikipedia.org
- Alice the Goon helped popularize the meaning that developed into 'thug'. en.wikipedia.org
Perhaps slang from flagon, or from an Aboriginal English word, goom.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 2 facts
- Goon may derive as slang from flagon. en.wiktionary.org
- Alternatively, goon may derive from the Aboriginal English word goom. en.wiktionary.org
Possibly from goon meaning a fool or a thug.
Checked 1 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- Possibly derived from goon meaning a fool or a thug. en.wiktionary.org