goons

Noun

goon (countable and uncountable, plural goons)

1. A thug; a usually muscular henchman with little intelligence.
   • Efforts to unionize were routinely met with clubbings, shootings, jailings, blacklistings and executions, perpetrated not only by well-armed legions of company goons, but also by police officers, deputies, National Guardsmen and even regular soldiers.2009 February 22, Kevin Baker, “Blood on the Street”, in New York Times
2. (US, informal) A hired and paid person who is assigned to terrorize and kill opponents.
3. A fool; someone who is silly, stupid, awkward, or outlandish.
   • Mr. Campion appeared suitably impressed and she warmed to him. He was very easy to talk to with those long clown lines in his pale face, a natural goon, born rather too early she suspected.1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 5, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC
4. (derogatory) An enforcer or fighter.
   • […]a scout from the Flames came down from Saskatoon, said, "There's always room on our team for a goon"2002, “Hit Somebody!”, performed by Warren Zevon
5. (UK, World War II, PoW slang) A German guard in a prisoner-of-war camp.
6. (slang) One hired to legally kidnap a child and forcibly transport them to a boot camp, boarding school, wilderness therapy, or a similar rehabilitation facility.
   • Owen Jenney, Ms. Hamburger's son, got gooned, though he said his goons turned out to be "really nice guys, actually." He is 19 now, a freshman in college, and he remembers arriving in the wilderness frightened and confused, angrily convinced that sending him across the country to Oregon was "way...2016 October 20, Laura Collins-Hughes, “Therapy Becomes Theater in 'Wilderness'”, in New York Times

See all 16 meanings of goon