1
as in to happen
to take place
what in the world is going on in there?
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
2
as in to ramble
to talk at length without sticking to a topic or getting to a point
my, but Aunt Betty does go on about all of her aches and pains
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in idiot
a stupid person
an unfortunate tendency to call those who disagree with him "brainless goons"
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
the crime boss threatened to send the goons after him if he squealed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of go on
Charlotte Observer, 14 Aug. 2025
Jessica Simpson: Live in Las Vegas tickets will go on sale Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m.
—Jay Stahl, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2025
Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 June 2025
As events in Eddington rise to national prominence, Aster cuts to a private jet full of antifa goons — the infamous outside agitators — being flown into the town by some malign puppet master.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for go on
Verb
Lyles upset incumbent Jennifer Roberts in the Democratic primary and went on to become Charlotte’s 59th mayor and the first Black woman in the role.
—Charlotte Observer, 14 Aug. 2025
Jessica Simpson: Live in Las Vegas tickets will go on sale Aug. 18 at 1 p.m. ET/10 a.m.
—Jay Stahl, USA Today, 14 Aug. 2025
Noun
He’s dressed in totalitarian black, and his goons are soon chasing a poor family, baby in tow.
—Matthew J. Palm, The Orlando Sentinel, 4 June 2025
As events in Eddington rise to national prominence, Aster cuts to a private jet full of antifa goons — the infamous outside agitators — being flown into the town by some malign puppet master.
—Nate Jones, Vulture, 18 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for go on
Recent Examples of Synonyms for go on
Verb
-
The show doesn’t just happen in front of them, but around them.—
Charna Flam,
People.com,
8 Aug. 2025
-
What propels the show now is the immediacy, the urgency of being in this setting with what’s happening in American health care right now.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
In a Friday morning press conference in Orlando, both men tried to justify their bullying behavior with rambling speeches portraying all people in this country illegally as real threats for criminal activity and violence.—
Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 Aug. 2025
-
Photographers will love ambling along Talkeetna’s rutted dirt roads lined with cabins, but for a closer look at a rambling old homestead, sign up for an ATV tour with Alaska Wilderness Adventurer.—
Ashlea Halpern,
AFAR Media,
1 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
At least being a thug is more lucrative than being a poet.—
Joan MacDonald,
Forbes.com,
2 Aug. 2025
-
According to reporting from the Clermont Sun, Fike tweeted ‘#thug the new n word’ in April 2015 and ‘Thug life = thug treatment = no pity from me’ in July 2019.—
James Wilkins,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 July 2025
Verb
-
Some of those unit costs will come down as Olio Piro scales up.—
Maria Aspan,
NPR,
5 Aug. 2025
-
But the message is clear: the results of Q4 will come down to what business leaders are doing right now.—
Don Yaeger,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
In the preview build, there were two levels: the streets of New York culminating in a fight with the villain Beetle, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier that ends with a showdown with Taskmaster.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
5 Aug. 2025
-
When it was announced that the Disney Destiny would be themed to heroes and villains, the theater creatives knew Hercules had to be the premier show inside the Walt Disney Theater.—
Megan duBois,
Forbes.com,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
True to its nickname, the Bounce House was alive with energy — literally — as the section above the visiting locker room shook, rattled and rolled with students bouncing up and down in excitement before kickoff.—
Matt Murschel,
The Orlando Sentinel,
5 Aug. 2025
-
The change of scenery freed the author to rattle herself in the service of her art and, despite continuing to question her abilities, finally declare pride in her fiction.—
Hillary Kelly,
The Atlantic,
5 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
So, the parallel thing that I’ve been frustrated by recently is not just calling Trump stupid, but calling Trump voters stupid.—
Drew Broussard
May 22,
Literary Hub,
22 May 2025
-
Sometimes too stupid is actually smartski but sometimes is just stupid stupid.—
Caroline Downey,
National Review,
27 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
The book was about how his father chose conventional family values over the life of a gangster.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
2 Aug. 2025
-
That audio clip has been shared some 60,000 times on TikTok, often by Venezuelans ridiculing the notion that everybody from their country is a gangster.—
ProPublica,
ProPublica,
23 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Go on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/go%20on. Accessed 19 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share