notorious goonda
- noun
- /nəˈtɔːriəs ˈɡuːndə/
- Offensive
:
matón
- The police were determined to arrest the notorious goonda who had been terrorizing the locality.
Examples
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Have you heard about that notorious goonda in Mumbai?
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The police captured a notorious goonda last night.
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Despite his reputation as a notorious goonda, he evaded authorities for months.
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Stories about the notorious goonda spread fear among the villagers for years.
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The police were determined to arrest the notorious goonda who had been terrorizing the locality.
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Stories about the notorious goonda spread fear among the villagers for years.
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Despite his reputation as a notorious goonda, he evaded authorities for months.
Synonyms
249
4.4
A person who is part of a group that does illegal things
244
4.9
A violent person who attacks or threatens others
76
8.1
A violent person hired to threaten or hurt others
31
9.9
A person who joins a criminal gang and often takes part in violent acts
A person who uses violence and threats to force people to give money
A member of an armed gang that robs people in India or South Asia
Antonyms
How Dangerous
Surface Forms
Morphology
notorious + goonda
The meaning is directly compositional: 'notorious' (famous for something bad) modifies 'goonda' (a thug/criminal), so the phrase simply denotes an infamous thug. Although 'goonda' is a regional loanword and may be unfamiliar to some learners, if a learner knows both constituent meanings the overall sense is transparent and predictable.
Etymology
Notorious goonda combines notorious (well known for bad acts) and goonda, a word from South Asia for a rough, violent man or bully. So the image is of a dangerous bully everyone knows, which is why the phrase means 'an infamous criminal or thug'.