thug

noun
\ ˈthəg How to pronounce thug (audio) \
plural thugs

Definition of thug

1 see usage paragraph below : a violent or brutish criminal or bully a brutal thug a gang of thugs … in American History X, Norton … plays a vicious young Venice Beach thug, a racist skinhead with … a thick black swastika tattooed over one bulging pec, and a gleam of murder in his eye.— Owen Gleiberman An authoritarian government willing to use the most brutal means to hold on to power; a dictator whose thugs have murdered, tortured, imprisoned or intimidated tens of thousands of civilians …— Michiko Kakutani
2 : a member of a group of murderous robbers in India's past whose activities were suppressed in the early nineteenth century

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Other Words from thug

thuggery \ ˈthə-​g(ə-​)rē How to pronounce thuggery (audio) \ noun
thuggish \ ˈthə-​gish How to pronounce thuggish (audio) \ adjective

Usage Discussion of Thug

Although thug was originally (and often still is) a term with strong negative connotations, since at least the early 1990s it has been embraced and reconceived by rap artists. [Tupac Shakur's] vision redefined the word "thug" into a man who triumphs over systemic and societal obstacles. — Mosi Reeves It now functions in African-American English with far more nuance than those unfamiliar with that reconception will recognize. "A thug in black people's speech is somebody who is a ruffian but in being a ruffian is displaying a healthy sort of countercultural initiative, displaying a kind of resilience in the face of racism etc. Of course nobody puts it that way, but that's the feeling. And so when black people say it, they don't mean what white people mean …" — John McWhorter The word's original and ongoing use to refer to criminals is still very much present in the culture at large, however, and use of thug by a white person to refer to a black person is generally understood to lack the nuance the word carries when used by a black person, and to instead be an offensive insinuation that a black person can be assumed to be engaged in criminal behavior.

Examples of thug in a Sentence

He was beaten and robbed by street thugs. the Mob boss regularly sent his thugs after people who were slow to pay their debts
Recent Examples on the Web The sybaritic Bond was an ace with women, a master of intricate weaponry and the double entendre, a cultured vinophile (who preferred martinis — shaken, not stirred) and a violent thug who wore bespoke tuxedos. Washington Post, "Sean Connery, first James Bond of film, dies at 90," 31 Oct. 2020 According to that film's Facebook page, Morais played a Russian thug in The Equalizer in his first role. Katherine J Igoe, Marie Claire, "Who Is 'The Bachelorette's Brendan Morais, the Actor-Model Frontrunner?," 13 Oct. 2020 Amazon was long considered a thug to competitors and a slavedriver to employees, hourly and salaried alike. Aaron Pressman, Fortune, "Amazon the innovator or Amazon the violator?," 13 Oct. 2020 Incredibly sad for our great country to have this thug as our President. Jay R. Jordan, Houston Chronicle, "How Houston and Texas politicians reacted to the presidential debate train wreck," 30 Sep. 2020 The use of the word thug is a part of that history and continuum. Safia Samee Ali, NBC News, "'Not by accident': False 'thug' narratives have long been used to discredit civil rights movements," 27 Sep. 2020 Trump is a cartoon thug, a mobbed-up imbecile, a man with an observable psychiatric disorder, but what’s the Senate’s excuse? Taylor Antrim, Vogue, "Aaron Sorkin on His New Film, The Trial of the Chicago 7; Social Media; and the Election," 25 Sep. 2020 But the thug officer chose to ignore that (flutterings now a raging worldwide storm). Mike Masterson, Arkansas Online, "OPINION | MASTERSON ONLINE: Lean times ahead," 30 Aug. 2020 Alec Baldwin’s impression of Trump as a two-bit outer-borough thug has never sat right with me. Alex Shephard, The New Republic, "Carl Hiaasen’s Secret to Writing a Good Trump Novel," 25 Aug. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'thug.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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First Known Use of thug

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1

History and Etymology for thug

Hindi & Urdu ṭhag, literally, thief

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Statistics for thug

Last Updated

3 Nov 2020

Cite this Entry

“Thug.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/thug. Accessed 5 Dec. 2020.

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More Definitions for thug

thug

noun
How to pronounce thug (audio)

English Language Learners Definition of thug

: a violent criminal

thug

noun
\ ˈthəg How to pronounce thug (audio) \

Kids Definition of thug

: a violent person or criminal

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Comments on thug

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