as in thugs
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
rowdies had overtaken the neighborhood and were threatening people on the street
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for rowdies
Noun
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The actions of these thugs, who should be imprisoned for a long while, is the cause of denying real Knicks fans the chance to watch the game communally.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
10 June 2026 -
People have committed suicide because a bunch of thugs went after them.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
7 June 2026
Noun
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If criminals have enough information to keep attacking your accounts, a credit freeze can help stop them from opening new credit in your name.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
19 June 2026
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And historically, denaturalization has been reserved for the most egregious offenders, such as human rights abusers and violent criminals.—
Camilo Montoya-Galvez,
CBS News,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Neither immigrant family should be linked to violent gangsters, of course.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
13 June 2026
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One of the most innovative gangsters of the 20th century, Frank Lucas earned the title of Harlem drug kingpin in the late-‘60s and early-‘70s by importing high-quality heroin from Southeast Asia and selling it under the street name Blue Magic.—
Kevin Jacobsen,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 June 2026
Noun
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In the movie, Furiosa is taken from her idyllic home by bandits and grows up shuttled between psychopath Dementus (Chris Hemsworth) and warlord Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme).—
Rebecca Aizin,
PEOPLE,
17 June 2026
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Deportees from the United States are especially vulnerable to robbery and kidnapping because gangs and bandits assume that their families can pay larger ransoms.—
Caitlin Dickerson,
The Atlantic,
15 May 2026
Noun
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In the past decade, the leadership of the Kinahan organization has become rich and cosmopolitan, and their life styles have started to resemble those of international businessmen more than of street hoodlums.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
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The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.—
Andrew Pulver,
Air Mail,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In keeping with the promotion, the Sox players’ photos on the video board cast them as villains wearing black and eye patches.—
Paul Sullivan,
Chicago Tribune,
17 June 2026
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Beyond harsher criticism, sports media frames Black athletes differently — often naming them as villains, failures, antagonists or questioning their leadership when necessary.—
Brielle Miller,
Baltimore Sun,
16 June 2026
Noun
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The series has lent a cinematic gangster attraction to the Peaky Blinders, yet the term itself was not one gang — as depicted in the show — but a generic expression from the late 19th century for the ‘street ruffians’ of Birmingham, born out of the city’s ring of poverty.—
Jacob Tanswell,
New York Times,
4 Apr. 2026
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In fact, the GTW ruffians have to give the Big Honey some props for his relative restraint in the heat of the moment.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
28 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The actions of hooligans following the Knicks championship is inexcusable.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
17 June 2026
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Not only were hooligans running riot every week, but the grounds weren’t fit for purpose, and attendances were locked into a sustained nosedive.—
Richard Sutcliffe,
New York Times,
23 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Rowdies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/rowdies. Accessed 24 Jun. 2026.
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