1
as in idiots
a stupid person
an unfortunate tendency to call those who disagree with him "brainless goons"
Synonyms & Similar Words
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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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of goons
Willa eludes Lockjaw's goons with the help of Deandra (Regina Hall), a French 75 member, and finds refuge with the Sisters of the Brave Beaver, a convent of sympathetic (if exhausted) nuns.
—
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Mar. 2026
No more random goons without background checks, and fire all who never should have been hired.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2026
Now, fresh reporting by the New York Times documents the wild ride that turned a group of crypto goons into a national laughing stock.
—Joe Wilkins Published Feb 5, Futurism, 5 Feb. 2026
Get your goons out of Minnesota.
—Becca Longmire, PEOPLE, 29 Jan. 2026
Senate Democrats should continue to block Homeland Security funding until the goons are gone from Minnesota and Noem is gone from Washington.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2026
He’s aided by Jessica Jones, who uses her super strength (and sarcasm) to beat up Kingpin’s goons.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026
The fear caused by her masked goons and their disregard of due process leaves us citizens afraid to leave their homes.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 22 Jan. 2026
But the sequences featuring Jimmy Crystal and his goons are far more sadistic, and needlessly unpleasant.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 14 Jan. 2026
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Mar. 2026
No more random goons without background checks, and fire all who never should have been hired.
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 4 Mar. 2026
Now, fresh reporting by the New York Times documents the wild ride that turned a group of crypto goons into a national laughing stock.
—Joe Wilkins Published Feb 5, Futurism, 5 Feb. 2026
Get your goons out of Minnesota.
—Becca Longmire, PEOPLE, 29 Jan. 2026
Senate Democrats should continue to block Homeland Security funding until the goons are gone from Minnesota and Noem is gone from Washington.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 29 Jan. 2026
He’s aided by Jessica Jones, who uses her super strength (and sarcasm) to beat up Kingpin’s goons.
—Jordan Moreau, Variety, 27 Jan. 2026
The fear caused by her masked goons and their disregard of due process leaves us citizens afraid to leave their homes.
—Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 22 Jan. 2026
But the sequences featuring Jimmy Crystal and his goons are far more sadistic, and needlessly unpleasant.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 14 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for goons
Noun
-
One gets the sense, reading DuBois, that Stanton’s fervor for political action stemmed from a dread of being governed by idiots.—
Moira Donegan,
New Yorker,
13 Mar. 2026
-
These people are idiots; who would fall for this?—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The centerpiece is, of course, the melee/dance-off between the ensemble in white tutus and the violent thugs, toe blade and all.—
Lé Baltar,
IndieWire,
14 Mar. 2026
-
The Democrats, though, have no problems releasing all these bloodthirsty thugs back into the neighborhood.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
4 Mar. 2026
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
Noun
-
That way, even if your data circulates, criminals have a harder time breaking in.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Mar. 2026
-
By demanding justice and dignity for the drug-war dead, were nuns, priests, pastors, and other sympathizers not protecting criminals?—
Sheila Coronel,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Even then, though, the popular take — the story of the lunatics taking over asylum — didn’t sit right with me.—
Paul Fischer,
HollywoodReporter,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Beating these lunatics was incredible, right?—
Joey Garrison,
USA Today,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
Set in the Mississippi Delta during the early 1930s, the film follows Smoke and Stack, twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown after years spent working for Chicago gangsters, hoping to start fresh and leave their violent past behind.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
15 Mar. 2026
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In the movie’s fuzzy metaphysics, Shelley wills herself into the consciousness of a character named Ida (also played by Buckley), a young woman angling for survival in 1930s Chicago — a colorful, dangerous world of bawdy lotharios and lethal gangsters.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The movie does attempt to gesture at class and race as thematic underpinnings (the maids trapped in The Virgil are mostly non-white, while the villains are rich Caucasians), but like the story and action at large, these go pretty much nowhere, and feel like obligatory symbols.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
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Jack Balderrama Morley examines the beautiful, terrible, villains of reality television.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Set against mountainous landscapes and rural lakes, the story follows a wandering swordsman who is falsely accused of stealing a shipment of gold and must unravel a web of intrigue involving bandits, palace guards and corrupt officials while attempting to clear his name.—
Lin Ying-Hsuan,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
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Alongside attacks by bandits, Nigeria is also plagued by an insurgency fought by the Boko Haram extremist group and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Goons.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/goons. Accessed 20 Mar. 2026.
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