Thesaurus results for PLUG-UGLIES

plug-uglies

noun

plural of plug-ugly

as in thugs

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang sent over a couple of hulking plug-uglies to rough up the store owner

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plug-uglies

Noun

These low-level thugs typically are not believed to be formally aligned with Iran.

— Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026
Saint played Edie Doyle, whose brother was murdered by thugs working for a mob boss running a longshoremen's union; her character becomes involved with Brando's pugilistic dockworker Terry Malloy.

— David Morgan, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of thugs

Noun

That is what makes seemingly basic personal information so useful to criminals.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Oct. 2026
Pillay, 85, received the news while attending a forum in Nuremberg, Germany, where the trials of Nazi war criminals helped lay the foundations of international law.

— Stefanie Dazio, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminals

Noun

The station is soon invaded by out-of-time baseball stars, fairytale villains, and unseasonal snow, all created by aliens eager to understand the concept of imagination.

— Richard Edwards, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
The zombie is one of the most elastic and grotesque villains in the genre, shifting dramatically from early-Hollywood films built on racial stereotypes to the now-popular vision of a monster that yearns to devour those still living.

— Angelica Jade Bastién, Vulture, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of villains

Noun

Sincere Lanier, 22, is one of several offenders who allegedly stole from machines at Stella’s Place March 24 and Avenue Flower Shop and Wine Bar March 29, Oak Lawn police say.

— Olivia Stevens, Chicago Tribune, 8 Oct. 2026
Too often, special occasions can feel like an excuse to buy a new outfit; weddings are the worst offenders.

— Corinne Pierre-Louis, Vogue, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of offenders

Noun

Wild to me though that something that expensive would just be dropped off with porch pirates out there.

— Joe Kinsey OutKick, FOXNews.com, 8 Oct. 2026
Jamal convened a press conference proclaiming to be able to communicate by phone with Somali pirates who were holding a Nigerian ship hostage.

— Mia Cathell, The Washington Examiner, 5 Oct. 2026

Definition of pirates

Noun

Based on Nick Harkaway’s novel The Price You Pay, the show follows Jackie Price, a former drug queenpin hunted by seven elite assassins.

— Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 10 Oct. 2026
The final sequence bookends the first with River, Sid, and Coe once again being stalked by the assassins but this time getting the worst of it.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of assassins

Noun

In the decade of violent conflicts that followed, attacks on border towns and seizures of American property by revolutionaries and bandits prompted the United States to send two military expeditions into Mexico.

— Robert B. Zoellick, Foreign Affairs, 9 Oct. 2026
Joining Prue is her classmate Curtis Mehlberg (Jacob Tremblay), and the two enter a world of talking animals, bandits and powerful figures driven by grief and ambition.

— Mya Copeland, Variety, 7 Oct. 2026

Definition of bandits

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

plugs (up)

plug-uglies

plug-ugly

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Plug-uglies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plug-uglies. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of plug-uglies

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

zenith

Popular in Grammar & Usage

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Popular in Wordplay

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 16

Popular

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

Games & Quizzes