as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
a couple of hoodlums held up the convenience store
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hoodlum
True, black leather jackets have become a symbol for hoodlum cycle jockeys, but remember: Good guys wear 'em, too, including policemen.
—
Aurora Sousanis, Detroit Free Press, 5 June 2024
When Jennifer Lawrence isn’t full-frontally beating the bejesus out of insouciant hoodlums, that is.
—Charles Bramesco, Vulture, 10 Feb. 2025
However, their dreams are threatened by the hoodlums in the Riverbottom Gang.
—EW.com, 30 Nov. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for hoodlum
Aurora Sousanis, Detroit Free Press, 5 June 2024
When Jennifer Lawrence isn’t full-frontally beating the bejesus out of insouciant hoodlums, that is.
—Charles Bramesco, Vulture, 10 Feb. 2025
However, their dreams are threatened by the hoodlums in the Riverbottom Gang.
—EW.com, 30 Nov. 2024
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
See All Example Sentences for hoodlum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoodlum
Noun
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The 18th Street thugs then attacked a second victim with large wooden planks, causing lacerations that required sutures.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
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Plus, she wasn’t forced to live in a remote jungle compound surrounded by gun-toting thugs, because no one was coming after her.—
Sam Kelly,
Time,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Ineffably, Renko’s qualities of solidity and rebelliousness bring my father back to me, and the whole 11-book series, set mostly in Russia (with excursions to Cuba and the Arctic Circle), is a galloping wonder, full of apparatchiks, spies, oligarchs, gangsters, and murders galore.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
16 July 2025
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Aside from the already extraordinary tale of the O’Leary clan, Jim O’Leary led a life of adventure as a main cog for the city’s infamous gambling operations at a time when gangsters battled over control of the Prohibition liquor trade.—
William Lee,
Chicago Tribune,
5 July 2025
Noun
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Anti-crime priorities In his remarks, Abbott also unveiled some get-tougher-on crime proposals, including eliminating parole for criminals convicted of child trafficking.—
John C. Moritz,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
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And despite promises by the administration to remove the worst criminals, ICE deportation data from Jan. 1 to June 24 shows most people who were removed or detained didn’t have a violent criminal record, CBS News reported.—
Natalie Demaree,
Miami Herald,
28 July 2025
Noun
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The film is currently filming in London with Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors behind the highest-grossing MCU movies ever, back behind the camera; Downey now playing the chief villain; and a slew of stars from the lost era of Fox's X-Men movies reprising their roles for the first time in years.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
24 July 2025
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In 1994, Hogan joined WCW and reinvented himself as a villain, forming the New World Order (nWo) and ushering in a new era of edgy storytelling.—
Hannah Parry
Amanda Castro
Joshua Rhett Miller,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 July 2025
Noun
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The film, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, follows a group of seven samurai warriors who save a little village from annihilation at the hands of a group of bandits in 15th-century Japan.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
22 July 2025
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Riri joins their band of bandits — hacker Slug (Shea Couleé), pyrotechnic master Clown (Sonia Denis), enforcers Jeri (Zoe Terakes) and Roz (Shakira Barrera) aka the Blood Siblings.—
Ronda Racha Penrice,
HollywoodReporter,
11 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hoodlum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodlum. Accessed 3 Aug. 2025.
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