goon

1 of 2

noun

ˈgün 

1

: a stupid person

2

a

: a man hired to terrorize or eliminate opponents

b

: enforcer sense 2b

go on

2 of 2

verb

went on; gone on; going on; goes on

intransitive verb

1

a

: to continue on or as if on a journey

life goes on

went on to greater things

b

: to keep on : continue

went on smoking

c

: proceed

went on to win the election

2

: to take place : happen

what's going on

3

: to talk especially in an effusive manner

the way people go on about their ancestors

—Hamilton Basso

Synonyms

Noun

• idiot
• moron
• stupid

Verb

• happen
• come down
• come to pass
• be
• come about

Examples of goon in a Sentence

Noun

He was beat up by a couple of goons.

an unfortunate tendency to call those who disagree with him “brainless goons”

Verb

what in the world is going on in there?

my, but Aunt Betty does go on about all of her aches and pains

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Who knew a fresh fish and a bouquet of roses, if handled correctly, could be sufficient in immobilizing a pair of gorilla-sized goons? —Peter Debruge, Variety, 8 July 2025

Camila brings a team of goons to track their every move, and as the jungle terrain gets tougher, Dora must face the ultimate challenge: the truth. —Kilty Cleary, MSNBC Newsweek, 2 July 2025

Verb

In other words, any distress or thoughts of coercion going on in the minds of the participants wasn’t visible to him. —Nancy Dillon, Rolling Stone, 9 July 2025

There is a great deal of research going on to further advance AI. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 9 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun

probably short for English dialect gooney simpleton

First Known Use

Noun

1921, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for goon

• boon
• brune
• coon
• croon
• dune
• hewn
• hoon
• june
• loon
• moon
• noon
• poon

Kids Definition

goon

1 of 2 noun

ˈgün 

1

: a stupid person

2

: a person hired to terrorize or beat up or kill opponents

go on

2 of 2 verb

1

a

: to continue on or as if on a journey

life goes on

b

: to keep on : continue

went on talking

2

: to take place : happen

what's going on