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
In a season 3 teaser, Peter saves Suraj Sharma's Jay Batra from some thugs at a soccer stadium.
—
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Feb. 2026
Foucauld had later left the army to become a Trappist monk and had established himself as a missionary in Tamanrasset, Algeria, in the middle of the Sahara Desert; he was killed there by local thugs in 1916.
—Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
Others seem to act like thugs on a wilding binge.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
And Davis’s integrity puts him at odds with his longtime fence, Money (Nick Nolte, nice and growly as ever), who responds by enlisting the services of Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a platinum-blond thug on a motorcycle.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for thug
Randall Colburn, Entertainment Weekly, 19 Feb. 2026
Foucauld had later left the army to become a Trappist monk and had established himself as a missionary in Tamanrasset, Algeria, in the middle of the Sahara Desert; he was killed there by local thugs in 1916.
—Literary Hub, 17 Feb. 2026
Others seem to act like thugs on a wilding binge.
—Michael Smolens, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Feb. 2026
And Davis’s integrity puts him at odds with his longtime fence, Money (Nick Nolte, nice and growly as ever), who responds by enlisting the services of Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a platinum-blond thug on a motorcycle.
—Justin Chang, New Yorker, 13 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for thug
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thug
Noun
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Joe Cole, late of Peaky Blinders, plays Ethan, a former petty teen gangster from Las Vegas who has decamped to Los Angeles and made an honest man of himself.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Mar. 2026
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Out March 27 on Hulu, the film, directed by BenDavid Grabinski, follows mobster Nick (Vaughn), who travels back in time so that Future Nick and Present Nick can save fellow gangster buddy Mike (James Marsden) from being murdered.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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These laws make anyone who’s even a little gender nonconforming an object of suspicion, a potential criminal.—
Darren Rosenblum,
Mercury News,
21 Mar. 2026
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Many people copy cryptocurrency wallet addresses before sending digital currency, and those addresses can be valuable to criminals.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
21 Mar. 2026
Noun
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There are no villains—or maybe life, or growing up, or getting older, is the villain.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
25 Mar. 2026
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His grandiose persona rubbed many the wrong way early on, earning him a villain label.—
Pamela Chelin,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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On paper, Gosling’s turn as a CIA operative named Six who is entrusted with protecting a tween girl from an unhinged assassin should be, if not amazing, at least watchable.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
20 Mar. 2026
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McDonagh’s skill at crisp dialogue and character in his movies is evident in the opening scene for the teaser trailer where Chris boasts of his body count as an assassin worldwide, which has Lee warning against talk of killing people on an airplane.—
Etan Vlessing,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Set against mountainous landscapes and rural lakes, the story follows a wandering swordsman who is falsely accused of stealing a shipment of gold and must unravel a web of intrigue involving bandits, palace guards and corrupt officials while attempting to clear his name.—
Lin Ying-Hsuan,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
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Alongside attacks by bandits, Nigeria is also plagued by an insurgency fought by the Boko Haram extremist group and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The dogs were stolen from a village in northeastern China by thieves working for a dog meat shop.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
25 Mar. 2026
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As of now, no further information has emerged regarding the thieves.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.—
Andrew Pulver,
Air Mail,
31 Jan. 2026
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But as Duterte’s father, Vicente, had increasingly gravitated toward Malacañang, his son hung out with the family bodyguards—and crafted the persona of a rough-talking bugoy, or hoodlum, in his native Bisayan tongue.—
Sean Williams,
Harpers Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Themed weeks include Harry Potter, Star Wars and pirates.—
Jessie Dax-Setkus,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
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Doorbell cameras catch porch pirates.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
18 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Thug.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thug. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
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