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

The residents occasionally gather in a disused rec center but the meetings devolve into rants about immigrants, junkies, thugs and vigilantism.

— Jessica Kiang, Variety, 26 Sep. 2026
That a Christian man was responsible for the devastation in Oklahoma City certainly didn’t matter to the thugs who terrorized a Muslim woman there, nearly seven months pregnant, by attacking her home, breaking her windows, screaming religious slurs.

— Reshma Memon Yaqub, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of thugs

Noun

The Financial Action Task Force, the global money-laundering watchdog, has warned that criminals exploit citizenship and residency programs to conceal their identities, launder illicit wealth and evade justice.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 3 Oct. 2026
In a world that escalated from criminals planning a heist to steal DVD players to flying in a rocketship to space, anything’s possible.

— Alejandra Gularte, Vulture, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of criminals

Noun

The way it’s framed, both the heroes and the villains can only come from the tech community.

— Rumman Chowdhury, Rolling Stone, 25 Sep. 2026
There aren’t any villains here, just young people making young people mistakes and older people making older people mistakes.

— Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 24 Sep. 2026

Definition of villains

Noun

The prosecutor’s office stated that the Supreme Court could have applied a different interpretation of the law to ensure certain offenders remained on the public list.

— Alejandro Avila OutKick, FOXNews.com, 1 Oct. 2026
Wiener has passed laws protecting net neutrality, capping prescription costs and mandating mental health parity, ending mandatory minimum sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, and requiring corporations disclose their greenhouse gas emissions.

— Kevin Rector, Los Angeles Times, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of offenders

Noun

But instead the sisters wind up confronting assassins, demons with human familiars, and revelations about their late mother’s place within Le Clan des Sorcières.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 1 Oct. 2026
Separately in the episode, River (Jack Lowden) and Sid (Olivia Cooke) are on the run from a pair of assassins, while the rest of the team circles the wagons en route to a safe house.

— Lisa de los Reyes, HollywoodReporter, 30 Sep. 2026

Definition of assassins

Noun

Somebody like Gilroy or Jeff Kober and Barry Corbin (popping up occasionally as a pair of geriatric gangsters) will come and go in situations knowingly designed to feel contrived.

— Daniel Fienberg, HollywoodReporter, 23 Sep. 2026
And the next thing, a knock come at the door and these gangsters come in with guns.

— Jon Wertheim, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2026

Definition of gangsters

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 7 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

discreet

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

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

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

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Popular

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Games & Quizzes