as in hulk
a big clumsy often slow-witted person
I wish he wouldn't bring over here that bunch of palookas he calls his friends
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Recent Examples of palooka
Don’t be a palooka, start Nacua.
—
Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2024
One year after the Academy bafflingly ignored his work in Sideways, Giamatti finally scored his first Oscar nomination for his purely entertaining performance as boxing manager Joe Gould in Ron Howard’s proudly old-fashioned Depression-era palooka drama.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Sylvester Stallone's underdog tale about a struggling palooka given one shot at the heavyweight championship is a stirring sports movie with a level of charm and sweetness that dissipated in the rounds (and rounds) of sequels that followed.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2019
All this real guts and glory in Philadelphia, yet one of the big tourist attractions is to run up the Art Museum steps the way a palooka named Rocky Balboa did on the silver screen.
—Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 1 Jan. 2018
Without it, director Phillipe Falardeau's film would be a fairly unremarkable, fairly familiar ride, telling the tale of a big-hearted but undisciplined palooka whose biggest hurdle in life is his own bad judgment.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 17 May 2017
The jokes, by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2017
The jokes (by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser) have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2017
Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2024
One year after the Academy bafflingly ignored his work in Sideways, Giamatti finally scored his first Oscar nomination for his purely entertaining performance as boxing manager Joe Gould in Ron Howard’s proudly old-fashioned Depression-era palooka drama.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Sylvester Stallone's underdog tale about a struggling palooka given one shot at the heavyweight championship is a stirring sports movie with a level of charm and sweetness that dissipated in the rounds (and rounds) of sequels that followed.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2019
All this real guts and glory in Philadelphia, yet one of the big tourist attractions is to run up the Art Museum steps the way a palooka named Rocky Balboa did on the silver screen.
—Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 1 Jan. 2018
Without it, director Phillipe Falardeau's film would be a fairly unremarkable, fairly familiar ride, telling the tale of a big-hearted but undisciplined palooka whose biggest hurdle in life is his own bad judgment.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 17 May 2017
The jokes, by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2017
The jokes (by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser) have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for palooka
Noun
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There, beside the shiplike hulk of the Basilica of San Petronio—which is a work in progress, the foundation stone having been laid in 1390, and which somebody really should get around to finishing one of these days—was a vast white screen.—
Anthony Lane,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
-
Like the port-holes of a hulk, Human spiders spin and spin, Backward down their threads so thin Dropping, each a hempen bulk.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Following a damaging price war, Beijing’s new five-year plan signaled the government will reduce EV subsidies and instead let the market decide winners and losers in the sector, the China-Global South Project wrote.—
Ben Smith,
semafor.com,
31 Oct. 2025
-
The latter more than held his own, though, allowing four hits and three runs across 6 2/3 innings before leaving as the hard-luck loser.—
Joe Kozlowski,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The cash option is a one-time, lump-sum payment that is equal to all the cash in the Mega Millions jackpot prize pool.—
Tanya Wildt,
Freep.com,
28 Oct. 2025
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That’s why any new lump or change in the chest deserves medical attention.—
Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt,
CNN Money,
26 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
That grieving parents María (Noomi Rapace) and Ingvar (Hilmir Snær Guðnason) name the mutt after their own dead daughter, Ada, pushes the film into the realm of a psychological fever dream, albeit one that operates on a dry, profoundly deadpan register.—
Dennis Perkins,
Entertainment Weekly,
31 Oct. 2025
-
Two dogs came into the living room to inspect the uproar, mutts from the reservation.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Yet if the Dodgers are to be cast as villains from the Book of Samuel, Toronto brought to the fight far more than pebbles.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
The family moved to Hollywood 10 years later, and Gene Lockhart worked steadily as a character actor, usually in avuncular roles, sometimes as a villain.—
NPR,
NPR,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Only a moron would cut the funding of an industry that actually brings revenue into the government’s pocket.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
18 Sep. 2025
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Seth Rollins gassed Bron up by saying Jey Uso thinks his dad is a loser and his uncle is a moron.—
Alfred Konuwa,
Forbes.com,
18 Aug. 2025
Noun
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This guy might be single-handedly responsible for generations of people having an irrational fear of clowns.—
Steven Thrash,
Entertainment Weekly,
24 Oct. 2025
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Unlike past attempts at fictionalizing his life, Macmanus barely touches on the fact that Gacy had a hobby of dressing up like a clown, and doesn’t show any actual murders in the series.—
Elisabeth Garber-Paul,
Rolling Stone,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Rodents, possums, and skunks show up to snack on the flesh and seeds.—
Brandee Gruener,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
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While striped skunk is edible, Coalition Brewing warns against its strong odor, scavenger diet and susceptibility to parasites.—
Stuart Dyos,
USA Today,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Palooka.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palooka. Accessed 5 Nov. 2025.
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