goombah

noun

goom·​bah ˈgüm-ˌbä 

plural goombahs

1

informal : a close friend or associate

—used especially among Italian-American men

2

informal + disparaging : a member of a secret chiefly Italian-American crime organization : mafioso

broadly : gangster

3

informal, often disparaging + offensive : an Italian American

Examples of goombah in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Ida, meanwhile, is a crime society floozy in 1930s Great Depression Chicago, an escort to a coterie of goombahs who take to mentally torturing her over dinner and drinks in a speakeasy. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 4 Mar. 2026

Playing the lounge lizards, slotwads, goombahs and corrup-tos, the supporting cast members are terrific. — Duane Byrge, HollywoodReporter, 22 Nov. 2025

Her goombah was Rocky Graziano, who was a major middleweight champion. — Josef Adalian, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021

Word History

Etymology

Italian dialect (Campania) cumbà, vocative form of cumbare respected older man, literally, godfather, from Medieval Latin compater — more at compeer

First Known Use

1952, in the meaning defined at sense 1