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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In a season 3 teaser, Peter saves Suraj Sharma's Jay Batra from some thugs at a soccer stadium.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Feb. 2026
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Foucauld had later left the army to become a Trappist monk and had established himself as a missionary in Tamanrasset, Algeria, in the middle of the Sahara Desert; he was killed there by local thugs in 1916.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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And where do the villains come in?—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
25 Feb. 2026
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His heroic actions — along with those of returning protagonists Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) and Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) —ultimately foil the villains.—
Carole Horst,
Variety,
24 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities.—
Jeff Capellini,
CBS News,
20 Feb. 2026
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His office is more concerned about arresting police officers than prosecuting criminals.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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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
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The bandits are those who help themselves and cause others a loss.—
Jonny Thomson,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In retaliation, gangsters took to the streets to light vehicles and businesses on fire, carjack cars and buses, and cause mayhem across multiple states.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
23 Feb. 2026
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Now, all Addison can tell us is that the show begins with two young Dubliners who are looking for treasure and are on the run from gangsters.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
22 Feb. 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 Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption, and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.—
Dallas Morning News,
Dallas Morning News,
25 Feb. 2026
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The Somali pirates who ransacked Minnesota remind us that there are large parts of the world where bribery, corruption and lawlessness are the norm, not the exception.—
TIME Staff,
Time,
25 Feb. 2026
Noun
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After diplomatic negotiations, the Iranian state called off its assassins in 1998.—
Anderson Cooper,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
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One week later, on May 15, assassins forced Valdez, 50, from his car at midday and shot him at least a dozen times in downtown Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.—
Foreign Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Toughies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toughies. Accessed 28 Feb. 2026.
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