goons

noun

plural of goon
1
as in idiots
a stupid person an unfortunate tendency to call those who disagree with him "brainless goons"

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in thugs
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 goons But Mark, in Ronson’s telling, quickly grows antagonistic, abruptly asking Ronson to sign an NDA, then later barraging him with suspicious texts and threatening him with a pair of goons. — Jeremy Gordon, The Atlantic, 14 Sep. 2026 His goons start the job, but Sang-il sends in one of his best men, Jang Tae-ha, to finish the job. — Kayti Burt, Time, 7 Aug. 2026 One explosive clash with armed goons later, Stuart is in possession of a device that looks more or less like a microwave but has the ability to propel them through different dimensions with the push of a button. — Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 22 July 2026 Elordi played high school bully Nate, who in Season 3 dealt with some goons who tormented him and brutally physically assaulted him. — Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 21 July 2026 Farage has indeed been targeted for public attacks by political goons for years. — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 28 June 2026 But goons roaming the streets, vandalizing property and causing mayhem must not be tolerated. — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 17 June 2026 The best of them is saved for last, and works in spite of the film’s struggle to make its sociopathic main villain (Joey Iwanaga) as interesting as its colorful array of goons. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 12 June 2026 The group’s funhouse palettes and repertoire of sweaty, pustulant goons tapped into the nation’s nauseous psyche. — Jeremy Lybarger, Artforum, 2 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goons
  1. idiots
  2. thugs
  3. morons
  4. criminals
  5. lunatics
  6. gangsters
  7. villains
  8. bandits
Noun
  • Eleven gullible idiots were talked into acquitting because of an imaginary female ailment.
    — Voice of the People, New York Daily News, 20 Sep. 2026
  • And then there’s the culture of the scientists, and these idiots can’t read Dickens.
    — David Brooks, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of idiots
Noun
  • Saint played Edie Doyle, whose brother was murdered by thugs working for a mob boss running a longshoremen's union; her character becomes involved with Brando's pugilistic dockworker Terry Malloy.
    — David Morgan, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026
  • The residents occasionally gather in a disused rec center but the meetings devolve into rants about immigrants, junkies, thugs and vigilantism.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 Sep. 2026
Definition of thugs
Noun
  • There are complicated brain-chemistry factors involved that have to do with testosterone, and dopaminergic systems, and kappa-opioid receptors, all of which seem to add up to a Jim Gaffigan joke about how men are morons compared with their wives.
    — McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 2026
  • The Dilbert principle — traced back to a quote in a 1995 strip — posited that managers and higher-ups are actually successful morons whose stubbornness is confused for real leadership qualities.
    — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 13 Jan. 2026
Definition of morons
Noun
  • That is what makes seemingly basic personal information so useful to criminals.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.
    — Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • The show will serve as a platform for countless lunatics within the InfoWars universe and a platform for larger announcements about the company’s fictional exploits.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Republicans see an opportunity here, portraying progressive and socialist Democrats as lunatics and communists.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 9 Aug. 2026
Definition of lunatics
Noun
  • But when a patient recognizes him from his dangerous past, Brown has eight hours to elude the government, mob hitmen, quack surgeons, and a trail of dead gangsters to somehow beat the reaper.
    — Denise Petski, Deadline, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Somebody like Gilroy or Jeff Kober and Barry Corbin (popping up occasionally as a pair of geriatric gangsters) will come and go in situations knowingly designed to feel contrived.
    — Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of gangsters
Noun
  • The station is soon invaded by out-of-time baseball stars, fairytale villains, and unseasonal snow, all created by aliens eager to understand the concept of imagination.
    — Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
  • The zombie is one of the most elastic and grotesque villains in the genre, shifting dramatically from early-Hollywood films built on racial stereotypes to the now-popular vision of a monster that yearns to devour those still living.
    — Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of villains
Noun
  • In the decade of violent conflicts that followed, attacks on border towns and seizures of American property by revolutionaries and bandits prompted the United States to send two military expeditions into Mexico.
    — Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Joining Prue is her classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), and the two enter a world of talking animals, bandits and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition.
    — Mya Copeland, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of bandits

Browse Nearby Words

go one better
goons
goop
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Cite this Entry

“Goons.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goons. Accessed 13 Oct. 2026.

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