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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of thugs
Of course, Sarah and her mom continue to believe that God is on their side, even after the family home is attacked by oil company thugs and a reliable ally winds up on the wrong end of a shotgun.
—
Joe Leydon, Variety, 7 Nov. 2025
In The Big Lebowski, thugs mistake the titular slacker (Bridges) for the wealthy Jeffrey Lebowski, sending him on a wild investigation with his pal Walter (John Goodman) into a ransom plot involving Lebowski’s young wife (Tara Reid).
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2025
Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.
—Rabih Alameddine
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
As night falls, armed thugs roam the streets and families pick up guns to protect themselves.
—Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
Digging and cutting back garden thugs is often necessary to preserve what grows on your side of the fence.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2025
Peace isn’t easy to come by, though the motorcycle thugs who swing by to bully the locals and squeeze money out of the businesses don’t offer much resistance.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
Some people are thugs for life.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Hutch screams at thugs during a four-on-one melee, and the irony is only flesh-wound deep.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2025
Joe Leydon, Variety, 7 Nov. 2025
In The Big Lebowski, thugs mistake the titular slacker (Bridges) for the wealthy Jeffrey Lebowski, sending him on a wild investigation with his pal Walter (John Goodman) into a ransom plot involving Lebowski’s young wife (Tara Reid).
—Glenn Garner, Deadline, 8 Oct. 2025
Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.
—Rabih Alameddine
september 2, Literary Hub, 2 Sep. 2025
As night falls, armed thugs roam the streets and families pick up guns to protect themselves.
—Oren Liebermann, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2025
Digging and cutting back garden thugs is often necessary to preserve what grows on your side of the fence.
—Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 22 Aug. 2025
Peace isn’t easy to come by, though the motorcycle thugs who swing by to bully the locals and squeeze money out of the businesses don’t offer much resistance.
—Tim Grierson, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
Some people are thugs for life.
—Sean Neumann, People.com, 14 Aug. 2025
Hutch screams at thugs during a four-on-one melee, and the irony is only flesh-wound deep.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thugs
Noun
-
The trio has a surprisingly good theory about the implosion of the makeshift Astral Pulse; seems like Shroud never found the original, and someone has been outfitting low-level criminals with bootlegs that are going awry like Robert’s.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
-
With spoofing tools, criminals can mimic real bank phone numbers and even use AI to reproduce familiar voices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
These were gangsters, so they weren’t obliged to couch this any way but direct.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Nov. 2025
-
McLusky, however, isn’t interested in meeting new gangsters or unknown criminals in his town.—
Demetrius Patterson,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Like the Red Ring goons at the bar, villains all over the city are more juiced up than ever, made stronger by enhancements provided by Shroud.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Plus, there's plenty of new heroes and villains to root for and against.—
EW Staff,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The country has faced years of bloodshed from Boko Haram militants and armed bandits, whose motives are often linked more to territorial control and ransom than to religion.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
-
In classical antiquity, the mountainous region was notorious for bandits; in modern times, blood feuds among clans were rife.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
Presidential assassins and all this dark stuff.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Up until then, slashers were silent assassins or a breather.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Aleah and Grasso end up saving Lizzie’s ass and capturing the hoodlums.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
22 Sep. 2025
-
However, hoodlums and thugs who throw objects at the players give up their rights and should be removed, charged, and possibly jailed.—
Kate Plummer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Eyes on Within four minutes of arriving at the outside wall of the Louvre, the thieves had scaled the building and were breaking through a window.—
Joseph Ataman,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
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President and director of the Louvre, Laurence des Cars, told the French Senate that the only camera installed outside the Apollo Gallery did not capture footage of the window where the thieves broke in and exited.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Just like Scott said, there were a lot of pirates out there.—
Dan Morrison,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
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The book, which is from Australia, follows Bee and her fellow runaways, who discover a new friend, Paco, is a Lost Boy from Neverland who needs them to fight hordes of pirates led by a merciless new leader.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
4 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Thugs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thugs. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.
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