Thesaurus results for HOODLUMS

hoodlums

noun

plural of hoodlum

as in thugs

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang a couple of hoodlums held up the convenience store

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of hoodlums His warning was meant for American eyes and ears at least as much — if not more so — than for the government in Jerusalem that until now has encouraged the hoodlums by tolerating their violence. — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026 In the past decade, the leadership of the Kinahan organization has become rich and cosmopolitan, and their life styles have started to resemble those of international businessmen more than of street hoodlums. — Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2026 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 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoodlums

Noun

These low-level thugs typically are not believed to be formally aligned with Iran.

— Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026
Saint played Edie Doyle, whose brother was murdered by thugs working for a mob boss running a longshoremen's union; her character becomes involved with Brando's pugilistic dockworker Terry Malloy.

— David Morgan, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of thugs

Noun

That is what makes seemingly basic personal information so useful to criminals.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.

— Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminals

Noun

The father pulls over, and the car is immediately swarmed over by bandits, who brutally kill him — plus his wife and two kids — with no mercy.

— Damon Wise, Deadline, 12 Oct. 2026
In the decade of violent conflicts that followed, attacks on border towns and seizures of American property by revolutionaries and bandits prompted the United States to send two military expeditions into Mexico.

— Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of bandits

Noun

The station is soon invaded by out-of-time baseball stars, fairytale villains, and unseasonal snow, all created by aliens eager to understand the concept of imagination.

— Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
The zombie is one of the most elastic and grotesque villains in the genre, shifting dramatically from early-Hollywood films built on racial stereotypes to the now-popular vision of a monster that yearns to devour those still living.

— Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of villains

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“Hoodlums.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodlums. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of hoodlums

noun

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