Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A thug hired to intimidate or harm opponents.
  • noun A stupid or oafish person.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Australia, countable, informal A wine flagon or cask.
  • noun Australia, uncountable, informal Cheap or inferior cask wine.
  • noun A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence (also known as a 'hired goon').
  • noun A fool; someone considered silly, stupid, awkward, or outlandish.
  • noun ice hockey, pejorative An enforcer or fighter.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an awkward stupid person
  • noun an aggressive and violent young criminal

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably ultimately short for gooney, simpleton.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Diminutive slang for flagon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Shortened from gooney, from obsolete gony ("simpleton", c.1580), of unknown origin. Gony was applied by sailors to the albatross and similar big, clumsy birds (c.1839). Goon first carried the meaning "stupid person" (c.1921).

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Examples

Comments

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  • I can't remember who had the wine list, but in Australia, goon is the slang for bottom-of-the-barrel cask wine.

    March 9, 2007

  • I believe that Goon was used (maybe invented) by Segar, the creator of Popeye the sailor. Google Goon Segar

    Mack Kelly

    March 26, 2009

  • I can confirm what AZ sez.

    September 10, 2009

  • --bilby, A little late to confirm, isn't it?

    When I see this word, I am forced to think of that really stupid song that my children's great-aunt insists on singing to them all the time, about Little Bunny Foo-foo. ...Dear God, why!?!?! Make it stop.

    September 10, 2009

  • Was in one of the local papers today. Story was about there perhaps being a levy placed on this kind of wine, partly because we have a major problem with street drunks and this is their tipple of choice, partly because the cask bladders they leave in their wake are a non-biodegradable blight on the landscape. First time I'd seen the term.

    September 10, 2009

  • "uh, about ten cups of goon" - guy who jumped into crocodile water to impress a girl.

    March 24, 2017