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
-
Remember the scene in Marvel's The Avengers, when Bruce Banner transformed into the hulk and punched a Chitauri Leviathan in the face, bringing it to a sudden halt?—
Chris McMullen,
Space.com,
28 Nov. 2025
-
Jerome Grand Hotel For 44 years, the empty hulk of the United Verde Hospital loomed above the town like Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory.—
Roger Naylor,
AZCentral.com,
14 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The loss was the latest in a frustrating season for the Rebels, losers of seven games by seven points or less after reaching the Sweet 16 in last season’s NCAA Tournament.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Stocks of airlines, including American Airlines, United and Delta, were some of Monday's biggest losers on Wall Street, and shares of all three slipped about 3% in Tuesday's premarket trading.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
My son, a lump of breath that fell into the world.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Mar. 2026
-
And while some can work magic with a claw clip, others struggle to avoid lumps and bumps without invoking gels and wax.—
Emily Tannenbaum,
Glamour,
8 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
With this selection, readers can have an experience similar to readers in Japan in encountering this fresh new voice, inflected with Kanako’s distinctively Osakan warmth and wit (the adorable Shiba Inu mutt at the center of the story certainly may be part of the appeal too).—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Mar. 2026
-
The 22nd annual Puppy Bowl featured puppies on Team Ruff and Team Fluff competing in a mutt-size football stadium for the Wayfair Lombarky Trophy.—
Haadiza Ogwude,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
8 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
There’s also a Nazi villain, a band director from hell and even a Joker.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 Mar. 2026
-
Also in the Lanterns cast is Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, a chief Green Lantern villain of DC Comics; Garret Dillahunt as William Macon, described as a modern cowboy; and Poorna Jagannathan as Zoe, a potential love interest for John.—
Nick Romano,
Entertainment Weekly,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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This drunk moron — quite different from his character in the novel — bears a ton of blame.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
13 Feb. 2026
-
The Dilbert principle — traced back to a quote in a 1995 strip — posited that managers and higher-ups are actually successful morons whose stubbornness is confused for real leadership qualities.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2026
Noun
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Noem was the public face of that disapproval, strutting forward with arrogance in the face of public censure, a veritable clown show of ineptitude.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Mar. 2026
-
How did clowns become a protest symbol?—
Janet W. Lee,
NPR,
5 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Owens has spotted coyotes, crayfish, snakes, bats, foxes, skunks and a wide array of butterflies and moths on her daily walks through the forest.—
Jenna Ebbers,
Kansas City Star,
6 Mar. 2026
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Some mammal species are highly susceptible to HPAI, including domestic cats, skunks, foxes, raccoons, bobcats, mountain lions and black bears.—
Faith Bugenhagen,
Austin American Statesman,
27 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Palooka.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palooka. Accessed 10 Mar. 2026.
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