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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When Krem takes off in Kara’s spacecraft, a rusted hulk that’s like an interplanetary RV, and shoots her beloved dog Krypto with a lethal tranquilizer that will result in agonizing death in three days, Kara joins Ruthye on her revenge quest.
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The hulk has made it to the Seaport once — in September 2024 when it was towed to Pier 17 for a Tommy Hilfiger Fashion Week event.
Noun
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The losers are the automakers still leaving accessories to the dealer, where the margin quietly bleeds away.
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That is a big risk investors take when trying to find the winners and losers within the biotech sector.
Noun
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Pastas, all made in house, are a solid choice too—like the Squid Ink Orecchiette with lump crab.
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Stocklas was retired by the time of his Powerball win, which netted a lump-sum payment of $191 million.
Noun
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The cannister featured an image of an angry mutt with saliva dripping from its jaws.
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Not that hard to leave the little mutts at home for the grocery store trip.
Noun
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Together, the band brings to life a mythic world of ancient heroes and villains, attracting an excited audience of headbangers and fantasy fanatics, many of whom show up in costume.
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The performance earned her the award for best villain at the 2003 MTV Movie Awards.
Noun
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Mantzoukas was willing to look like a maniac and a moron in equal measure.
-
Lluís then calls Puig Antich a moron.
Noun
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The group demonstrated near the Washington Monument and was met by a few counter protestors, one of which played clown music throughout the majority of the demonstration.
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But many did not, as the 1981 episodes tell the grim tale of a young girl named Sylvia (Barash), who is raped by a stranger wearing a horrifying clown mask.
Noun
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Rabies is often found in bats, raccoons, skunks, and foxes, but any mammal can be infected.
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Hence, bright lights and sprays of water will make skunks want to flee your yard.
Cite this Entry
“Palooka.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palooka. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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