as in hoodlum
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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
Lululemon Women’s Tear-away Mid-rise Track Pants $128 $69 at Lululemon
I was born in 1989 and fondly remember when tearaways were all the rage in the late ‘90s.
—
Katie Jackson,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Nov. 2024
Special Features: Some features such as zip pockets, linings (compression or not), perforated details, drawstring gadgets, and tearaway tags are useful.
—
Isaiah Freeman-Schub,
Robb Report,
31 Mar. 2023
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
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
Lululemon Women’s Tear-away Mid-rise Track Pants $128 $69 at Lululemon
I was born in 1989 and fondly remember when tearaways were all the rage in the late ‘90s.
—
Katie Jackson,
Travel + Leisure,
28 Nov. 2024
Special Features: Some features such as zip pockets, linings (compression or not), perforated details, drawstring gadgets, and tearaway tags are useful.
—
Isaiah Freeman-Schub,
Robb Report,
31 Mar. 2023
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
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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.
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The Knesset recently legalized the death penalty for Arabs who murder Jews, but not for the hoodlum Israeli settlers who have been killing West Bank residents to seize their land.
Noun
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The actions of hooligans following the Knicks championship is inexcusable.
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Between the hooligan-ish behavior in New York City, San Antonio's desperation not to go down 3-1 and the chippiness of this series, Game 4 of the NBA Finals should be the most intense basketball game so far this season.
Noun
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The 16 reputed gangsters or aspiring gangsters charged in the indictment range in age from 19 to 24.
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That’s not to say that there aren’t some similarities between the Gotham City gangster in The Penguin and Los Angeles private investigator of Sugar.
Noun
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Ditto Hugh Jackman’s unerring performance — perhaps his finest dramatic work yet — as a savage, unfeeling thug and unrepentant murderer and thief.
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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.
Noun
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And Susan Collins, as Democrats have seen time and time again, is a real tough out.
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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).
Noun
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At one point, what appeared to be a bullet hole was seen in the hood of a Chicago police squad car.
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Most changes happen under the hood.
Noun
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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.
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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.
Noun
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Interestingly, that cigar-smoking biker ruffian was not a character in the DC Comics title of a few years back.
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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.
Cite this Entry
“Tearaway.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tearaway. Accessed 28 Jun. 2026.
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