Thesaurus results for TEAR AWAY

tearaway

noun

Definition of tearaway

British

as in hoodlum

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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 tearaway Jane Wickline’s character reveals her own tearaway outfit for a nice button to the sketch. — Rima Parikh, Vulture, 5 Apr. 2026 Alexia and her partner, Chris, who only shared their first names, are preparing to marry in October, and sent out wedding invitations to friends and family earlier this year, with a tearaway RSVP card and pre-stamped envelopes. — Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 June 2025 Folding cardboard kiosks in employee breakrooms with a tearaway pad to submit ideas to corporate. — Elizabeth Baskin, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024 The troupe’s costumer, Denise (Juliette Lewis), smooths out the act’s kinks by supplying tearaway pants. — Inkoo Kang, The New Yorker, 12 Dec. 2022 As for the origin of the tearaway pants, also used by NBA players to instantly bypass shoes for pants removal, that's not clear. — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 22 Nov. 2022

Recent Examples of Synonyms for tearaway

Noun

His warning was meant for American eyes and ears at least as much — if not more so — than for the government in Jerusalem that until now has encouraged the hoodlums by tolerating their violence.

— Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
Also in his orbit are a consortium of crooks, including his cousin Freddie, a hip junkie, and Pepper, a taciturn hoodlum who was friends with Ray’s dad, Big Mike, a legendary thief.

— Niela Orr, Vulture, 20 July 2026

Definition of hoodlum

Noun

Infantry has been around since officers figured out how to get soldiers organized instead of fighting in melees like football hooligans on a Saturday night after 12 pints of lager.

— New Atlas, New Atlas, 13 Sep. 2026
But we were being held up by some hooligans fighting in front of us.

— Aston Villa, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of hooligan

Noun

Unfolding over eight episodes, this brash gangster romp is ludicrous enough to be entertaining in its own way; but the dialogue and plotting really are unforgivably bad.

— The Week UK, TheWeek, 10 Sep. 2026
Michelle Yeoh stars as a gifted doctor forced at gunpoint to operate on a gangster with a life-threatening condition.

— Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 10 Sep. 2026

Definition of gangster

Noun

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
On a cold night in November 2011, in a field outside Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine, a gang of thugs stormed a Soviet scientific research institute, beat and humiliated the staff and burned the place to the ground.

— Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026

Definition of thug

Noun

And Susan Collins, as Democrats have seen time and time again, is a real tough out.

— NBC news, NBC news, 21 June 2026
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

Definition of tough

Noun

Performance verification for project outlook The team ran multiple tests to verify how the cell performed under the hood.

— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 20 Sep. 2026
Fans felt like the lighting on the skirt creates a white triangle shape that resembles a KKK hood, while the shoes appeared to look like two dangling legs.

— Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 18 Sep. 2026

Definition of hood

Noun

There’s also a romantic moment between Jean and Logan as the roughneck hero tries to figure out the best way to woo her after their initial meeting.

— Jordan Moreau, Variety, 13 Aug. 2026
The West Texas native worked in the Permian Basin oil fields as a roughneck and later joined Texas Monthly as a fact-checker then staff writer.

— Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 June 2026

Definition of roughneck

Noun

But as with any good Leonard story, the best moments come from the characters, a rogues’ gallery of violent ruffians and neurotic, duplicitous scoundrels.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 3 Sep. 2026
Interestingly, that cigar-smoking biker ruffian was not a character in the DC Comics title of a few years back.

— Jeff Spry, Space.com, 5 June 2026

Definition of ruffian

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“Tearaway.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tearaway. Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of tearaway

noun

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