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toughies

noun

plural of toughie
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

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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 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for toughies
  1. thugs
  2. villains
  3. criminals
  4. bandits
  5. gangsters
  6. toughs
  7. pirates
  8. assassins
Noun
  • 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
Definition of thugs
Noun
  • There are no villains in Possible Love; there are only people who are aware of others, and people who are not.
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 6 Sep. 2026
  • The Braves have the edge, but the Phillies are always wily little villains.
    — AJ Willingham, AJC.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of villains
Noun
  • Operating system and browser updates regularly fix vulnerabilities that criminals may try to exploit.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Most crimes across Mexico went unsolved, and authorities sometimes appeared to be colluding with criminals instead of fighting them.
    — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • When a wealthy, royal woman is attacked by bandits, the two men save her and are welcomed to the castle as valiant knights.
    — Jourdain Searles, HollywoodReporter, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Elsewhere, a gang of highway bandits cons an unsuspecting family into stopping by the roadside, only to violently kill them, burn their bodies, and strip their car for parts.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, IndieWire, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of bandits
Noun
  • British gangsters colliding with the Italian Mafia just feels so right for our world.
    — Connor Sturges, Condé Nast Traveler, 7 Sep. 2026
  • Live actors would appear throughout, sometimes as gangsters in a noir crime movie, and sometimes as Wild West cowboys.
    — Julie Tremaine, PEOPLE, 3 Sep. 2026
Definition of gangsters
Noun
  • 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).
    — Britt Hayes, Entertainment Weekly, 5 June 2026
  • So, while Rue and Maddy are confabbing over milkshakes in a diner, Alamo sends Rue off for a drive with his two toughs, G (Marshawn Lynch) and the icy Bishop (Darrell Britt-Gibson).
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 11 May 2026
Definition of toughs
Noun
  • Within hours, their yacht vanishes, Matt is abducted by a gang of ruthless pirates led by Langbore (Copley), and paradise becomes a trap.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 14 Sep. 2026
  • Knights in shining armor, pirates and princesses grace the grounds of Sleepy Hollow for the annual Renaissance Faire in Des Moines.
    — Kyle Werner, Des Moines Register, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of pirates
Noun
  • The settler assassins were arrested by the police and as usual released within a few hours.
    — David Shulman, The New York Review of Books, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Bannerman centers on the eponymous Paul Bannerman, a lethal covert operative who convinces a group of the world’s most deadly assassins to quit the spy game for a chance to lead normal lives in the suburbs of Connecticut.
    — Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of assassins

Browse Nearby Words

toughie
toughies
toughing it out
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Cite this Entry

“Toughies.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/toughies. Accessed 19 Sep. 2026.

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