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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 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
  1. thugs
  2. criminals
  3. gangsters
  4. bandits
  5. villains
Noun
  • The eponymous former assassin is drawn back into the game after some thugs (led by Alfie Allen) kill his dog and royally piss him off.
    — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 2026
  • Shortly after his big win, he’s attacked by two thugs in a parking garage.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 July 2026
Definition of thugs
Noun
  • Spencer says filmmaker Douglas wanted to very much focus mostly on the women rather than talking about the criminals.
    — Antonia Blyth, Deadline, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Depending on the plan, monitoring may cover credit activity, financial accounts, investment and retirement accounts, phone takeovers, SIM swaps, utility accounts and other areas where criminals may try to use your identity.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • The bodies start piling up – and business booms – but the growing enterprise puts the trio in the crosshairs of the powerful gangsters and underworld figures in the lawless border town of Saribgunj.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Duane Keith Davis is accused of orchestrating Shakur’s killing in September 1996, and the lore of other rappers and gangsters looms large over his trial.
    — Aditi Sangal, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of gangsters
Noun
  • One Arab American man later recalled that his great-grandfather, who pursued a similar route, never made it to the Midwest—his train was stopped by a group of bandits from Mexico who forced the passengers to hand over their belongings.
    — Rozina Ali, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The train was sitting just outside a depot in Memphis when the bandits made their move.
    — Kiel Porter, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of bandits
Noun
  • People who once dined together, smiled together, campaigned together and worked together to strengthen our communities are suddenly being portrayed as villains.
    — Beau Simon, Sun Sentinel, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Patrick and Hugo McPherson play the Stabbington brothers, two twin villains.
    — Tanya Fedak, Variety, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of villains

Browse Nearby Words

hoodlum
hoodlums
hoodoo
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Cite this Entry

“Hoodlums.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodlums. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on hoodlums

Nglish: Translation of hoodlums for Spanish Speakers

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