Word.ws English Dictionary

loon

/ˈluːn/

loon noun: a crazy or deranged person; a lunatic. Also the clipping of balloon.

loon: a crazy or deranged person; a lunatic
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

loon (plural loons)

  1. (slang) A crazy or deranged person; a lunatic.
    • An electric fire came next, followed by an umbrella and then a colander. "This bowl will carry no water," he muttered. "Some loon hath pierced it with holes."1971, Richard Carpenter, Catweazle and the Magic Zodiac, Harmondsworth: Puffin Books, page 67
    • What's it like to be a loon? / I liken it to a balloon1971, Marc Bolan, “Cosmic Dancer”, in Electric Warrior, performed by T. Rex
    Synonyms:
    lunatic, psycho, wacko
  2. (obsolete) An idler, a lout.
    • The diuell damne thee blacke, thou cream-fac'd Loone: Where got'ſt thou that Gooſe-looke.c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
  3. (Scotland, Ulster) A boy, a lad.
  4. (Scotland) A harlot; mistress.
  5. (Scotland) A simpleton.
  6. (Ireland, historical) An English soldier of an expeditionary army in Ireland.
  7. A round area of pavement that protrudes from one side of a road to accommodate turning vehicles with a wide turning circle.
    Synonyms:
    bulb-out

Noun (2)

loon (plural loons)

  1. (Canada, US) Any of various birds, of the order Gaviiformes, of North America and Europe that dive for fish and have a short tail, webbed feet and a yodeling cry.
    • The Loone is an ill ſhap'd thing like a Cormorant; but that he can neyther goe nor flye; he maketh a noiſe ſometimes like a Sovvgelders horne.1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England...
    • [O]h, yes! the loon does shriek dreadfully - particularly when there's fine rain […]1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H. L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 286
    Synonyms:
    diver

Proper noun capitalized: Loon

Loon

  1. A municipality of Bohol, Philippines.

Also used as

loon is also the clipping of balloon.

loon meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Telugu

loon in Hindi

लून

loon in Tamil

லூன்

loon in Marathi

लून

loon in Telugu

లూన్, లూను
More languagesFewer languages
loon in Malayalam
ലൂൺ, ലൂൻ
loon in Kannada
ಲೂನ್
loon in Punjabi
ਲੂਨ, ਲੂੰਨ
loon in Gujarati
લૂન, લૂનો
loon in Odia
ଲୁନ୍
loon in Nepali
लून
loon in Indonesian
gila, loon

Examples of loon in a sentence

  • He came again to her and she said: ‘Run swifter than the deer, be more cunning than the beaver, dive deeper than the loon.’1903, Zane Grey, Betty Zane, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, →OCLC:
  • And I listened for a voice;— / But my heart was all I heard; / Not a screech-owl, not a loon, / Not a tree-toad said a word.1921, Edna St. Vincent Millay, “The Blue-Flag in the Bog”, in Second April:

Synonyms of loon

All synonyms of loon

Forms of loon

pluralloons

Plural of loon: loons

Origin of loon

From Middle English louen, lowen (“rascal; rogue”), probably of Middle Dutch or Middle Low German origin. Compare Dutch loen (“simpleton”). Or, related to etymology 2, due to the bird's loud cry. Folk etymology associates it slang-wise with lunatic, though the latter may have influenced it; see loony.

Of North Germanic origin, from Old Norse lómr (“loon”), ultimately imitative of the bird's cry, particularly when it's in danger. Distantly related to lament, probably sharing Proto-Indo-European *leh₂- (expressive root).

Words formed from loon

Words that rhyme with loon

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about loon

What does loon mean?
Loon means a crazy or deranged person; a lunatic.
What is loon in Hindi?
Loon in Hindi is लून. See Loon meaning in Hindi.
How do you use loon in a sentence?
He came again to her and she said: ‘Run swifter than the deer, be more cunning than the beaver, dive deeper than the loon.’
What part of speech is loon?
Loon can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce loon?
Loon is pronounced /ˈluːn/.
What is the plural of loon?
The plural of loon is loons.

Words near loon in the dictionary

  1. loomless
  2. looms
  3. looms ahead
  4. looms large
  5. loomworks
  6. loon
  7. Loon op Zand
  8. loon pants
  9. Loona
  10. Loonan
  11. Loonans

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: loon (page history and authors); Loon (page history and authors); loon (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Tamil, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); loon (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-loon.ogg.

Cite this entry: “loon.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/loon. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.