palookas

noun

plural of palooka
as in hulks
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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for palookas
  1. hulks
  2. lumps
  3. losers
  4. villains
  5. morons
  6. idiots
  7. mutts
  8. clowns
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
Definition of hulks
Noun
  • Combine flour, ground almonds, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a large bowl and whisk to blend evenly so there are no lumps of sugar.
    — Amy Drew Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 19 Aug. 2026
  • Kuyper was diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s lymphoma earlier this year after noticing unusual symptoms and lumps on her neck and breast.
    — Natasha Dye, PEOPLE, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of lumps
Noun
  • The winners and the losers Like any economic policy, tariffs won’t benefit all parties.
    — Allison Morrow, CNN Money, 20 Aug. 2026
  • Payouts for the runner-up and semifinal losers have also declined relative to the overall purse in the past decade.
    — Lev Akabas, Sportico.com, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of losers
Noun
  • The ’90s were an era of event villains, characters who came preinstalled with their own company-wide impact.
    — Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Anthony Hopkins has played villains and popes, presidents and dictators, titans of literature and comic book kings.
    — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of villains
Noun
  • There are complicated brain-chemistry factors involved that have to do with testosterone, and dopaminergic systems, and kappa-opioid receptors, all of which seem to add up to a Jim Gaffigan joke about how men are morons compared with their wives.
    — McKay Coppins, The Atlantic, 12 Mar. 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
Definition of morons
Noun
  • That's the continous nonsense these idiots provide to a website like OutKick.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Tallahassee lawmakers must think their constituents are idiots.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 1 Aug. 2026
Definition of idiots
Noun
  • Not that hard to leave the little mutts at home for the grocery store trip.
    — Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 26 May 2026
  • For starters, there are the cost savings of getting one of these not-so-in-demand mutts.
    — Jack Beresford, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
Definition of mutts
Noun
  • Yusef Toubassi sits with his grandson Masa, looking on as children run by with cheeks painted bright colors and others howling with joy as clowns spin them around.
    — Dina Kraft, Christian Science Monitor, 19 Aug. 2026
  • One morning during my stay, there were even clowns buzzing about—a thrill to receive a balloon poodle alongside my morning flat white.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 29 July 2026
Definition of clowns
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.

Browse Nearby Words

palooka
palookas
palp
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Cite this Entry

“Palookas.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palookas. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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