as in criminals
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 thugs
In The Big Lebowski, thugs mistake the titular slacker (Bridges) for the wealthy Jeffrey Lebowski, sending him on a wild investigation with his pal Walter (John Goodman) into a ransom plot involving Lebowski’s young wife (Tara Reid).
—
Glenn Garner, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2025
Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.
—Rabih Alameddine
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
As night falls, armed thugs roam the streets and families pick up guns to protect themselves.
—Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
Digging and cutting back garden thugs is often necessary to preserve what grows on your side of the fence.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2025
Peace isn’t easy to come by, though the motorcycle thugs who swing by to bully the locals and squeeze money out of the businesses don’t offer much resistance.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
Some people are thugs for life.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Hutch screams at thugs during a four-on-one melee, and the irony is only flesh-wound deep.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2025
Lendina’s thugs try to force Hutch out of town, attacking him on a duck boat.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Glenn Garner, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2025
Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.
—Rabih Alameddine
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
As night falls, armed thugs roam the streets and families pick up guns to protect themselves.
—Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
Digging and cutting back garden thugs is often necessary to preserve what grows on your side of the fence.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2025
Peace isn’t easy to come by, though the motorcycle thugs who swing by to bully the locals and squeeze money out of the businesses don’t offer much resistance.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
Some people are thugs for life.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Hutch screams at thugs during a four-on-one melee, and the irony is only flesh-wound deep.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2025
Lendina’s thugs try to force Hutch out of town, attacking him on a duck boat.
—Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 13 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thugs
Noun
-
To suggest that another candidate’s supporters are criminals — particularly when that candidate is, by all measures, poised to win at least a plurality of votes in the city — does not seem like a recipe for earning New Yorkers’ support.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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Binance also lacked protocols — standard for financial services companies — to report transactions for money laundering risks, according to the Justice Department, and employees were well aware that such an oversight would invite criminals to the platform.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
McLusky, however, isn’t interested in meeting new gangsters or unknown criminals in his town.—
Demetrius Patterson,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
-
The other is about Chicago-style gangsters circa 1929.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Yet if the Dodgers are to be cast as villains from the Book of Samuel, Toronto brought to the fight far more than pebbles.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
For the 2017 Dress to Be Free Halloween Party at House of Yes in New York City, Cardi B went as one of Disney's most notorious villains.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In classical antiquity, the mountainous region was notorious for bandits; in modern times, blood feuds among clans were rife.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
-
Shortly after the museum opened on Sunday morning, two bandits used a lift on a truck to break into its Galerie d'Apollon, which houses the French crown jewels and other treasures, through a second-floor window.—
NPR,
NPR,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The upcoming movie takes place in a near-future dystopia in which a man (Powell) must try to survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins — all while being filmed for a popular national television show.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
19 Oct. 2025
-
First, though, more assassins come for them.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
10 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Aleah and Grasso end up saving Lizzie’s ass and capturing the hoodlums.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
-
However, hoodlums and thugs who throw objects at the players give up their rights and should be removed, charged, and possibly jailed.—
Kate Plummer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Around 100 pairs were found abandoned on the roof, perhaps due to the thieves being frightened away, Sheriff John Budensiek said at the news conference.—
Mark Price,
Miami Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Around 100 investigators are now racing against time to find them before the thieves possibly melt the jewels down to sell.—
Zacharie Petit,
NBC news,
23 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
In the Tatsuya Nagamine movie, Z is the name of an admiral who has sworn to destroy all the pirates of the New World, because of the pirates’ dream to have no leader, motivated only by their alliances that uphold the interests of every person and community.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Oct. 2025
-
For Larissa Knapp, a 27-year FBI veteran who was hired by an entertainment trade group last year to bolster ACE’s work hunting pirates, the timing could hardly have been better.—
Jacob Feldman,
Sportico.com,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Thugs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thugs. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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