/ guːn; NAmE / noun ( informal )
1.
( especially NAmE ) a criminal who is paid to frighten or injure people
2.
( old-fashioned , especially BrE ) a stupid or silly person
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WORD ORIGIN
mid 19th cent.: perhaps from dialect gooney booby ; influenced by the subhuman cartoon character Alice the Goon , created by E. C. Segar (1894–1938), American cartoonist.