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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of thug
The investigation leads Cole into an ugly world of red-neck thugs and disappeared girls.
—
Sandra Dallas, The Denver Post, 2 Feb. 2025
How many of you recall the TV image on Jan. 6, 2021, of Officer Daniel Hodges, squashed in a revolving door at the U.S. Capitol, screaming for help as MAGA thugs beat on his head?
—Trudy Rubin, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025
Although the new government seems willing to listen to Alawite concerns, there’s a lingering resentment, with many pointing to the community’s complicity in torture and war crimes — whether in the security services or gangs of thugs known as the shabiha — over the 14 years of the conflict.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2025
There was a time, not long ago, when men who lifted weights for fun were seen as either thugs or narcissists.
—Danielle Friedman, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for thug
Sandra Dallas, The Denver Post, 2 Feb. 2025
How many of you recall the TV image on Jan. 6, 2021, of Officer Daniel Hodges, squashed in a revolving door at the U.S. Capitol, screaming for help as MAGA thugs beat on his head?
—Trudy Rubin, The Mercury News, 30 Jan. 2025
Although the new government seems willing to listen to Alawite concerns, there’s a lingering resentment, with many pointing to the community’s complicity in torture and war crimes — whether in the security services or gangs of thugs known as the shabiha — over the 14 years of the conflict.
—Nabih Bulos, Los Angeles Times, 23 Jan. 2025
There was a time, not long ago, when men who lifted weights for fun were seen as either thugs or narcissists.
—Danielle Friedman, New York Times, 15 Jan. 2025
See All Example Sentences for thug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thug
Noun
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In her ethnographic study of Jamaican gangs, Jaffe argues against seeing the neighborhood strongmen—or dons—as primarily violent, exploitative gangsters.—
Foreign Affairs,
Foreign Affairs,
25 Feb. 2025
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Lives are literally on the line in Vivian Qu’s genre hybrid Girls on Wire, a surprisingly gritty study of people left behind or living in the margins that fuses gangster realism with social drama and leavens both with a dash of unexpected humor.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
18 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Only criminal hacking is a crime, and not all hackers are criminals.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes,
8 Mar. 2025
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Officers says there are many reasons people use fake plates: criminals hoping to avoid being tracked by law enforcement, evading fines on toll roads, or people trying to find a way to drive without a driver’s license or insurance.—
Briah Lumpkins,
Charlotte Observer,
6 Mar. 2025
Noun
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There are spells, curses, vendettas, a twist villain, giant dragons who turn into humanoid warriors and many other creatures populating the world of this gargantuan feat of eye-popping computer animation.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Variety,
2 Mar. 2025
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Hackman was among the most accomplished actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s.—
SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN,
arkansasonline.com,
2 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Production is set to begin in coming months on the movie about a horticulturalist who moonlights as an assassin.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
26 Feb. 2025
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Twice in this story, Nadia describes her desire to become an assassin—not a killer for hire but someone who kills bad guys pro bono.—
Willing Davidson,
The New Yorker,
23 Feb. 2025
Noun
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With Kelby Collins coming in as a transfer, there’s enough depth at bandit for Latham to spend more time at wolf.—
Kennington Smith III,
The Athletic,
26 Feb. 2025
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Try to distract the bandits one at a time until everyone but Casper is left.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
5 Feb. 2025
Noun
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Unbeknownst to the thieves, some of the containers were equipped with tracking devices.—
Alana Wise,
NPR,
28 Feb. 2025
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Shortly after the thieves cut the Arizona train's air hose on Jan. 13, a BNSF police officer who was in the area spotted several cases of Nike shoes beside the train and later saw several people loading Nike cases into a U-Haul truck and a Ford Econoline truck nearby.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr.,
USA TODAY,
27 Feb. 2025
Noun
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When Jennifer Lawrence isn’t full-frontally beating the bejesus out of insouciant hoodlums, that is.—
Charles Bramesco,
Vulture,
10 Feb. 2025
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However, their dreams are threatened by the hoodlums in the Riverbottom Gang.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
30 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Underneath the pirate is a shadowing within the bolt of a floral motif pattern inspired by the tiles at the Columbia Restaurant.—
Eduardo A. Encina,
Orlando Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2025
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The float that received one of the bigger reactions was a wooden pirate ship built on a RV chassis.—
Matthew Adams,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Thug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thug. Accessed 12 Mar. 2025.
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