goombah

noun goom·bah \ ˈgüm-ˌbä \

Definition of goombah

1 :a close friend or associate —used especially among Italian-American men

2 :a member of a secret chiefly Italian-American crime organization :mafioso; broadly :gangster

3 :a macho Italian-American man

Origin and Etymology of goombah

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

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First Known Use: 1954

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