as in gangster
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
the Mob boss regularly sent his thugs after people who were slow to pay their debts
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of thug
Jesse, understandably, has become more defensive about antisemitism since he was brutally attacked by thugs who singled him out for being Jewish.
—
Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2025
The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025
Using only lines of a poem by Lord Byron, Duffy deflects a threat from a neighborhood thug.
—Claude Peck, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2025
The thug in the seat next to him had 14 prior arrests, and went by the name of Killer.
—CBS News, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for thug
Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2025
The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by, IRAN.
—David Faris, Newsweek, 18 Mar. 2025
Using only lines of a poem by Lord Byron, Duffy deflects a threat from a neighborhood thug.
—Claude Peck, Boston Herald, 16 Mar. 2025
The thug in the seat next to him had 14 prior arrests, and went by the name of Killer.
—CBS News, 5 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for thug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thug
Noun
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In 1932 Chicago police raided an apparent summit meeting of gangsters, and arrested Lansky and five others on vagrancy charges.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2025
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Russian gangsters, grenades, terrorist plots, amnesia, and the idyllic Maine coastline all make an appearance.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In the film, Martin Lawrence plays an FBI agent who has to go undercover as a larger-than-life grandma — the eponymous Big Momma — to track down an escaped criminal.—
William Earl,
Variety,
1 Apr. 2025
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In a recent spree of clemency for white collar criminals, President Trump has pardoned Utah entrepreneur Trevor Milton, who was convicted in 2022 of misleading investors in his hydrogen and electric truck company Nikola.—
Erin Alberty,
Axios,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Whereas Serena could easily have emerged as a one-note villain, from the beginning of her tenure on the series, Strahovski has imbued Serena with a soulfulness that often puts the audience uncomfortably on her side, despite her reprehensible actions.—
Scarlett Harris,
IndieWire,
7 Apr. 2025
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Even when a big threat does arrive on the scene, the heroes aren't there right away, so plenty of innocent people get hurt before a villain gets brought to justice.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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And early intensity gave way to a late-game assassin.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
1 Apr. 2025
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Bruce Glover, the unorthodox actor who portrayed Mr. Wint, the assassin with the distinctive aftershave who partnered with Putter Smith’s Mr. Kidd in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, has died.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Then one day, Moses the Black is struck with the horror of it all and joins a desert monastery, where he's eventually killed by another group of bandits.—
Marco della Cava,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2025
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Instead, her love interest is a charming bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), cut from the same cloth as the animated Flynn from Disney’s Tangled.—
Josh Spiegel,
The Hollywood Reporter,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In this British-American heist comedy, a group of jewel thieves—including con artist Wanda Gershwitz (Jamie Lee Curtis), her lover Otto West (Kevin Kline), stuttering animal lover Ken Pile (Michael Palin) and gang leader George Thomason (Tom Georgeson)—pull off a major diamond robbery in London.—
Travis Bean,
Forbes,
22 Mar. 2025
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Laundry detergent is a top target for thieves, according to the National Retail Federation's 2024 National Retail Security Survey.—
Alayna Alvarez,
Axios,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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During the same year, Lansky joined Mafia hoodlum Joe Adonis in the operation of a major bootleg liquor operation in New York, apparently his first close association with the Mafia.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2025
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Those secrets created De Niro’s glorified and most memorable street hoodlums and now befuddle his current crazy-man public image.—
Armond White,
National Review,
21 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Travelers can also visit the San Felipe Fort for a dose of pirate history, then unwind in the slow-moving current of the natural lazy river Los Rápidos.—
Meagan Drillinger,
AFAR Media,
28 Mar. 2025
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Elementary School Kids can step into the world of pirates at The North Carolina Maritime Museum, where artifacts from Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge ship live.—
Roger Sands,
Forbes,
2 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Thug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thug. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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