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goner

goner

41 8.1
A person who will probably die or be in serious trouble
  • noun
  • /ˈɡoʊnər/
  • Informal
translation icon : desahuciado
  • My doctor told me if I don't quit, I'm a goner, but what can I do?
  • a goner for sure
  • already a goner
  • probably a goner

You are a goner, even if you meant no harm.

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Examples

  • Maybe all that I was sure of was that my heart was a goner.

    Fiction book (2000)
  • We were goners for sure.

  • I mean, I thought I was a goner for sure.

  • I was sure you were a goner there for a moment.

    Blog text (28)
  • You are a goner, even if you meant no harm.

  • I thought you were a goner!

  • "I thought we were both goners," she said.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • I'm a goner.

  • - Yeah, if Dr. Dave hadn't been there, we'd all be goners.

  • When the storm hit, we all thought we were goners and would never make it out safely.

Synonyms

toast
vsgoner
  • Informal
90 8.7

A person who is certain to fail or be in big trouble

is more absolute, meaning beyond hope rather than likely imminent failure
dogmeat
vsgoner
  • Offensive
1 9.9

Someone or something people treat as worthless and easily defeated

focuses on doom and being beyond hope rather than worthlessness

Antonyms

551 2.8

A person or animal who lives after a dangerous event

How Hopeless

goner
  • Informal
41 8.1
hopeless
133 2.7
survivor
551 2.8

Surface Forms

goner singular
goners plural

Morphology

goner = gone (transparent) = gone + er

Formed from the adjective 'gone' plus the agentive/nominalizing suffix '-er', giving 'one who is gone' (i.e., doomed); the relation is clear to learners.

Etymology

The word goner comes from gone ('no longer here' or 'lost') plus the ending -er that turns a word into a person, so a goner is someone who is 'gone' in the sense of being beyond help or hope.