as in thugs
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
after numerous suspensions, the school toughies were finally expelled for gang activities on campus
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of toughies
Other toughies are at the not-so-soft Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 13, the revenge trip to New England in Week 15 and the Philadelphia Eagles at Highmark Stadium in Week 17.
—
Tim Graham, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Tim Graham, New York Times, 16 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toughies
Noun
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The centerpiece is, of course, the melee/dance-off between the ensemble in white tutus and the violent thugs, toe blade and all.—
Lé Baltar,
IndieWire,
14 Mar. 2026
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The Democrats, though, have no problems releasing all these bloodthirsty thugs back into the neighborhood.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
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With ‘live’ scenes from the ship’s top deck, Marvel villains had invaded the cruise and the screens showed our heroes in action, saving the day.—
Helen Wright,
TheWeek,
11 Mar. 2026
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On one level, the Nazis here are stereotypical adventure story villains, yet specific actual Nazi atrocities are discussed and the suffering of French citizens is deeply felt.—
Christopher Arnott,
Hartford Courant,
11 Mar. 2026
Noun
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That way, even if your data circulates, criminals have a harder time breaking in.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Mar. 2026
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By demanding justice and dignity for the drug-war dead, were nuns, priests, pastors, and other sympathizers not protecting criminals?—
Sheila Coronel,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Police arrested one of four snowball bandits caught on camera clobbering the cops with snow.—
Leonard Greene,
New York Daily News,
28 Feb. 2026
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Traditional western dramas were more likely to depict vaqueros as bandits than hard-working ranch hands whose contributions were fundamental to the American West.—
Foreign Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Set in the Mississippi Delta during the early 1930s, the film follows Smoke and Stack, twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown after years spent working for Chicago gangsters, hoping to start fresh and leave their violent past behind.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
15 Mar. 2026
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In the movie’s fuzzy metaphysics, Shelley wills herself into the consciousness of a character named Ida (also played by Buckley), a young woman angling for survival in 1930s Chicago — a colorful, dangerous world of bawdy lotharios and lethal gangsters.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The local toughs, led by the sadistic Ace Merrill (Kiefer Sutherland), are headed the same way, albeit for different reasons.—
Sezin Devi Koehler September 1,
EW.com,
1 Sep. 2025
Noun
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The third, Thomas Jefferson, fought the Barbary pirates without a formal declaration.—
Adam Serwer,
The Atlantic,
4 Mar. 2026
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The park also pointed out a Junior Ranger booklet's mention of female pirates in the 17th and 18th centuries dressing like men to hide among ship crews.—
Karin Brulliard,
Arkansas Online,
3 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Consider Bobbi, one of the assassins sent north to find Armando.—
Michael Snyder,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
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Abova plays Miss All-Sunday, one of the several assassins of the Baroque Works organization.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
10 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Toughies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toughies. Accessed 19 Mar. 2026.
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