goop

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡuːp/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːp

Noun

goop (usually uncountable, plural goops)

1. (informal, usually uncountable) A thick, slimy substance; goo.
   • 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, page 7]”, in The New York Times‎^[1], archived from the original on 23 December 2014:

     […] The flesh [of the mistletoe berry] is sticky, and forms strings and ribbons between my thumb and forefinger. For the mistletoe, this viscous goop – and by the way, viscous comes to English from viscum – is crucial. The stickiness means that, after eating the berries, birds often regurgitate the seeds and then wipe their bills on twigs – leading to the seeds' getting glued to the tree, where they can germinate and begin the cycle anew.

2. (countable, informal, derogatory, dated) A silly, stupid, or boorish person.
   • 1963, P.G. Wodehouse, Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves, chapter 22:

     I pointed out that Stiffy, who is pure padded cell from the foundation up, was planning to marry the Rev. H.P. Pinker, himself as pronounced a goop as ever preached the Hivites and Hittites

Derived terms

• goopy

References

• “goop”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987–1996.

Anagrams

• pogo