palooka

noun

pə-ˈlü-kə How to pronounce palooka (audio)
Definition of palookanext
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 palooka 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for palooka
  1. hulk
  2. loser
  3. lump
  4. mutt
  5. villain
  6. moron
  7. clown
  8. skunk
Noun
  • Water levels on the Danube River, the second longest in Europe, have dropped so low because of drought that the hulks of dozens of World War II German battleships — and even the remains of an ancient woolly mammoth — are emerging into view.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 4 Aug. 2026
  • In the film, Russell wants a hulk of a man but doesn’t care about money, while Monroe transparently is looking for a man who can fuel her desire for diamonds.
    — Rance Collins, Entertainment Weekly, 17 July 2026
Definition of hulk
Noun
  • The losers will be SpaceX’s current shareholders that give up almost half their company for puny profits and big promises.
    — Shawn Tully, Fortune, 22 Oct. 2026
  • The contract will also usually provide for prevailing-party attorney’s fees, meaning the loser must repay the winner’s attorney’s fees.
    — Gary Singer, Sun Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of loser
Noun
  • Scallop crudo, a wedge salad piled with jumbo lump crab and sharpened with wasabi dressing, and a lobster roll with saffron coleslaw sit comfortably alongside American classics like a double cheeseburger and fries.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 22 Oct. 2026
  • While recovering from one of the surgeries, Casino felt a lump.
    — Hannah Kliger, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of lump
Noun
  • But when the mutt chases a fox into the wilderness and doesn't return, Fielding and his father launch a massive search to recover him, growing closer together as a result.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Antonio Nowden, a neighbor who lives at the Kelly Road house, said April 1 that the dog in question, a mutt with brown fur and a white spot on its chest, is not his.
    — Rafael Escalera Montoto, Arkansas Online, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of mutt
Noun
  • Still, this villain’s origin story works better as a showcase for effects than anything tragic.
    — Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Directed by Grammy Award-winning filmmaker James Mackel, the visual is three-and-a-half minutes of spy stuff, our hero, dressed to impress, making short work of the many villains who lurk in her hotel.
    — Lars Brandle, Billboard, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of villain
Noun
  • The unlikely source is Enervate’s company stooge corporate strategist, Ken Davies (Tim Key), a moron by any measure.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 9 Sep. 2026
  • God help us all if some idiot, some moron, ever put you in charge.
    — Greg Evans, Deadline, 18 July 2026
Definition of moron
Noun
  • That’s not to jinx the master clown who’s currently doddering around in Argan’s shoes on Broadway.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026
  • In several descriptions of these amateur events, including some of his own, Hemingway sounds less like a matador than a rodeo clown.
    — Stephen Bates, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of clown
Noun
  • Officials say the last animal confirmed to have rabies that wasn’t a bat was a skunk infected with the bat strain of rabies in Long Beach in 2014.
    — Karen Garcia, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
  • And coyotes regulate populations of mesocarnivores like skunks and raccoons, helping support the survival of ground-nesting birds.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of skunk

Browse Nearby Words

palominos
palooka
palookas
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Cite this Entry

“Palooka.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palooka. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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