roughnecks

noun

plural of roughneck
as in thugs
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang a group of roughnecks like to hang out at the roadhouse and harass people

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of roughnecks The show focuses on roughnecks and billionaires in West Texas who are trying to get rich as the oil industry continues to take over the state. — Lori A Bashian, FOXNews.com, 9 May 2026 But this is a look at the more dynamic version, like the roughnecks out in the patch and the offices in Dallas and Fort Worth. — Jackie Strause, HollywoodReporter, 17 Nov. 2025 Local agency Legacy Casting is putting out a call for real-life oil and gas workers, or roughnecks, to appear in the show. — Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for roughnecks
  1. thugs
  2. criminals
  3. gangsters
  4. bandits
  5. pirates
  6. villains
  7. toughs
Noun
  • In the big screen take of Clayface, Hagen is a matinee idol on the rise, but his face gets slashed by thugs.
    — Anthony D'Alessandro, Deadline, 23 July 2026
  • Threatening to limit mail-in voting, adding ridiculous ID requirements, or staging thugs at polling places are other possible ways to convince you to stay home.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 6 July 2026
Definition of thugs
Noun
  • California has some of the nation’s toughest gun laws, but state lawmakers are concerned that a new technology is allowing criminals to obtain firearms by building them from scratch.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 19 July 2026
  • This lengthy process was typical of ICE’s previous procedures to track down criminals, Sandweg said, which may have shifted under the demands of this administration’s daily arrest goals.
    — Nicki Brown, CNN Money, 18 July 2026
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • Remember all those fake memoirs from the early 2000s, by all those writers pretending to be addicts and gangsters and Holocaust survivors?
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026
  • In each, the protagonist(s) will be sought by both police and gangsters yet will lose their own money and have to get along without any while on the run.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 15 July 2026
Definition of gangsters
Noun
  • The plot is set in motion when dacoits (armed bandits) rob and murder Ram Lal, the village moneylender and head of Mano Majra’s only Hindu household.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 24 July 2026
  • Instead, most are romantic stories about young lovers separated by fate, and the rest are swashbuckling adventures full of bandits and pirates.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 30 June 2026
Definition of bandits
Noun
  • The hijacking is the latest in a series of attacks attributed to Somali pirates, whose activities have resurfaced in the Gulf of Aden and the western Indian Ocean after years of relative inactivity.
    — Omar Faruk, Los Angeles Times, 20 July 2026
  • But then a banquet meal goes horribly awry, and pirates sink the ship.
    — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 17 July 2026
Definition of pirates
Noun
  • The Modi government has portrayed the demonstrators as villains.
    — Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 20 July 2026
  • Corey Hawkins, who is also Black, gets more screentime than either and is one of the film’s suitor villains.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 17 July 2026
Definition of villains
Noun
  • In that version, the character is played by Joe Don Baker, the great character actor known for playing toughs in films like Walking Tall (1973) and Fletch (1985).
    — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026
  • So, while Rue and Maddy are confabbing over milkshakes in a diner, Alamo sends Rue off for a drive with his two toughs, G (Marshawn Lynch) and the icy Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson).
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 11 May 2026
Definition of toughs

Browse Nearby Words

roughneck
roughnecks
roughness
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Cite this Entry

“Roughnecks.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/roughnecks. Accessed 26 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of roughnecks for Spanish Speakers

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