English

Noun

Moonie ‎(plural Moonies)

1. (fandom slang) A fan of the Japanese manga and anime franchise Sailor Moon.
   • 1995 December 12, Sea Wasp [username], “Re: Too Many SM/DB posts! ARRGGHH!!!”, in rec.arts.anime, Usenet:

     The Moonies and the Dragonballers aren't minorities; they're as large or larger than any other group of animeniacs you're going to find.

   • 1997 January 3, thewkt [username], “Re: Sailor Moon blow-out at Kay-Bee”, in rec.toys.action-figures, Usenet:

     Nope, you're not the only Moonie here. Unfortunately, the US Bandai figures are kinda ugly.

   • 1998 September 14, Mike Oliva, “OT Sailor Moon”, in alt.games.everquest, Usenet:

     Mike- who has a Sailor Moon webpage up, carries a Sailor Moon wallet and matching coinpurse irl and is just in general a major Moonie.

2. (informal) A member of the Unification Church; a follower of its founder Sun Myung Moon
   • 1981 July 6, Sunday Times:

     The Unification Church, or the "Moonies" as they are commonly known, have a thriving work in South Africa, with their headquarters in Hillbrow and a Moonie farm near Muldersdrift.

   • 1991, Carlton Sherwood, Inquisition: The Persecution and Prosecution of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Regnery Gateway, ISBN 9780895265326:

     I am a proud Korean – a proud Moonie – and a dedicated anti-Communist and I intend to remain so the rest of my life -Bo Hi Pak

   • 2005 July 3, Renee Watabe, “Modern Love - A Leap of Faith”, in New York Times:

     We "Moonies" were willing to sacrifice personal choice to spin gold out of the raw silk of ourselves, to help create world harmony through family harmony.

3. (informal) A person who shows exceptional enthusiasm for a cause or organization, a zealot.^[1][2][3]
   • 1997, Nancy Griffin, Kim Masters, Hit and Run: How Jon Peters and Peter Guber took Sony for a ride in Hollywood, Simon & Schuster, ISBN 0684832666, page 197:

     CAA agents were sometimes called the "Moonies" of the business, famous for walking in lock-step.

   • 2009 August 15, Henry Winter, “Manchester City's Blue Moonies have their faith rewarded”, in The Daily Telegraph:

     From boardroom to terrace via the dug-out, such an evangelical zeal suffuses Manchester City's new mission that they should really be renamed the Blue Moonies.

4. (informal) Common nickname in English-speaking countries.
   • 2013, Hayden Nicholas, Ezekiel's Choice,, WestBow Press, page 100:

     How did Moonie get his nickname? He told us it had something to do with him being born during a full moon.

   • 2010, Bob Ruchhoft, Phil Smith, Good Cop, Dead Cop,, Author House:

     Michael "Moonie" Miller was feeling pretty good about things. The day was beautiful. A little breeze, nice and warm, was blowing in from the desert as if often does this time of year in the Los Angeles basin. Two days before Halloween and it's 81 degrees, mid-afternoon. It can't get much better than this, he thought. "Moonie" acquired his nickname years ago but it was hardly relevant anymore.

   • 2005, Maggie Siggins, Bitter Embrace: White Society's Assault on the Woodland Cree, McClelland & Stewart, page 128:

     He was nicknamed Moonie, because he was such a daydreamer in school.

   • For more examples of usage of this term, see Citations:Moonie.

Synonyms

• (member of Unification Church): Unificationist

References

1. ↑ Partridge, Eric; Tom Dalzell, Terry Victor (2005) The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English: J-Z, TF-ROUTL, ISBN 978-0415259385, page 1319
2. ↑ Dalzell, Tom; Terry Victor (2007) The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, Routledge, ISBN 0415212596, page 439
3. ↑ Dalzell, Tom (2008) The Routledge Dictionary of Modern American Slang and Unconventional English, Routledge, ISBN 0415371821, page 671

English

Noun

moonie ‎(plural moonies)

1. (dialect) The European goldcrest.