as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
London bobbies clearing the streets of hooligans
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of hooligan
Initially, police believed the attack on Brobbey’s car to be intimidation from hooligans associated with Feyenoord, the Rotterdam club who are Ajax’s fiercest rivals.
—
Simon Hughes, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2026
The way his Liverpool Scouse accent sludges across the track with a kind of soccer hooligan attitude could convert the most red-blooded NFL fan into a Champions League lifer.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2026
The cries mixed with disturbances, the chants of encouragement with shouts from the police and hooligans.
—Esteban Campanela, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
The film stars Boon as Tommy, a 19-year-old hooligan who wakes up from an all-night bender in the basement of a strange suburban home, bound with a chain around his neck.
—Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hooligan
Simon Hughes, New York Times, 17 Feb. 2026
The way his Liverpool Scouse accent sludges across the track with a kind of soccer hooligan attitude could convert the most red-blooded NFL fan into a Champions League lifer.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 7 Feb. 2026
The cries mixed with disturbances, the chants of encouragement with shouts from the police and hooligans.
—Esteban Campanela, CNN Money, 25 Nov. 2025
The film stars Boon as Tommy, a 19-year-old hooligan who wakes up from an all-night bender in the basement of a strange suburban home, bound with a chain around his neck.
—Christopher Vourlias, Variety, 4 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hooligan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hooligan
Noun
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The new Homeland Security person needs to unmask the thugs causing harm to families and innocent children.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
15 Mar. 2026
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The centerpiece is, of course, the melee/dance-off between the ensemble in white tutus and the violent thugs, toe blade and all.—
Lé Baltar,
IndieWire,
14 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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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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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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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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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
“Hooligan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hooligan. Accessed 26 Mar. 2026.
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