Thesaurus results for THUGS

thugs

noun

plural of thug

as in criminals

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang the Mob boss regularly sent his thugs after people who were slow to pay their debts

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 thugs 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 Some of the thugs were actual neo-Nazis, led by real-life Russian fascist Maksim Martsinkevich, who would later be imprisoned for posting racist videos, investigated for murder and, in 2020, found dead in his cell of an apparent suicide. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026 Meanwhile, Kyle and his usual pair of special-forces thugs track down a suspiciously large plane (as in, big enough to fly across the Atlantic) and an equally suspicious flight manifest. — Andy Andersen, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2026 Gail Bean and Isaiah John return to their roles as Wanda Bell and Leon Simmons, who are guiding the drug trade into the 1990s as gangsta rap goes mainstream and street thugs become music millionaires. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 4 Sep. 2026 Dozens of settler thugs are still freely roaming the village. — David Shulman, The New York Review of Books, 26 Aug. 2026 The eponymous former assassin is drawn back into the game after some thugs (led by Alfie Allen) kill his dog and royally piss him off. — Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 2026 Shortly after his big win, he’s attacked by two thugs in a parking garage. — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 30 July 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for 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

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

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

Still, despite the typical procedural formula with cases tied to gun smugglers, cartel assassins and kidnappings, the show remains topical enough to keep viewers engaged.

— Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 25 Sep. 2026
To that end, the presence of Kyle Soller and MyAnna Buring as the two assassins targeting the Slow Horses has been the new season’s most consistently chilling development.

— Scott Tobias, Vulture, 23 Sep. 2026

Definition of assassins

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
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

Definition of hoodlums

Noun

Adams and Mourtgos, however, didn't examine Flock's effect on break-ins, where thieves steal belongings from parked cars.

— Greg Rosalsky, NPR, 2 Oct. 2026
Authorities told the company the thieves broke open the back of the vehicles, found nothing of value, and left them.

— Sasha Rogelberg, Fortune, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of thieves

Browse Nearby Words

thug

thugs

thumb

See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

Style

“Thugs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thugs. Accessed 6 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation

Synonyms of thugs

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

regimen

Popular in Grammar & Usage

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

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

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

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?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

Games & Quizzes