Thesaurus results for TOUGHS

toughs

noun

plural of tough

as in thugs

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang didn't want her son hanging out with the neighborhood toughs

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 toughs 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 The gangland drama is deeper and darker than the domestic one, strengthened by the unexpected portrayal of the Russian toughs as bumbling in their own way. — Sheldon Pearce, New Yorker, 24 Apr. 2026 Cazale played the title character, an older man who becomes lost in Manhattan and is harassed by two young toughs, one of whom was portrayed by Pacino. — René Ostberg, Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Mar. 2026 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for toughs

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

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

Goaded on by a governor, who handpicked the university president and staged a coup to overthrow one athletic director in order to hire Kiffin, the bayou bandits are proudly wearing their black hats.

— Dana O’Neil, CNN Money, 9 Sep. 2026
Analysts warn each ransom payment fuels more crime as armed groups, from rural bandits to Islamist militants, raid schools, mosques and villages, with an average of 21 kidnappings reported daily.

— Dyepkazah Shibayan, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 2026