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
He’s beaten by thugs with a crowbar for an unfortunate outburst, exploited by neighbors in the council estate and arrested, all because people don’t understand Tourette syndrome.
—
Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 24 Apr. 2026
Mayor vows to catch 'thugs who did this' Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards promised that law enforcement will catch the people responsible for the violence at the mall.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2026
Why shouldn’t Patrick Lynch, Patrick Hendry, Scott Munro and the rest of the NYPD unions defend a stone-cold guilty action by two thugs who’re supposed to protect us?
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026
The thugs would insinuate themselves into the confidence of wayfarers and, when a favorable opportunity presented itself, strangle them by throwing a handkerchief or noose around their necks.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
No government masked thugs shooting down our neighbors in the streets.
—Diego Parrado, Vanity Fair, 29 Mar. 2026
No government masked thugs shooting down our neighbors in the streets.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 28 Mar. 2026
Suddenly Odin gets a call telling him Korps leader Attila (Eili Harboe) and her thugs are on their way to finish the job.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 27 Mar. 2026
The new Homeland Security person needs to unmask the thugs causing harm to families and innocent children.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2026
Katie Walsh, Boston Herald, 24 Apr. 2026
Mayor vows to catch 'thugs who did this' Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards promised that law enforcement will catch the people responsible for the violence at the mall.
—Amanda Lee Myers, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2026
Why shouldn’t Patrick Lynch, Patrick Hendry, Scott Munro and the rest of the NYPD unions defend a stone-cold guilty action by two thugs who’re supposed to protect us?
—Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 21 Apr. 2026
The thugs would insinuate themselves into the confidence of wayfarers and, when a favorable opportunity presented itself, strangle them by throwing a handkerchief or noose around their necks.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 31 Mar. 2026
No government masked thugs shooting down our neighbors in the streets.
—Diego Parrado, Vanity Fair, 29 Mar. 2026
No government masked thugs shooting down our neighbors in the streets.
—Ted Johnson, Deadline, 28 Mar. 2026
Suddenly Odin gets a call telling him Korps leader Attila (Eili Harboe) and her thugs are on their way to finish the job.
—K.j. Yossman, Variety, 27 Mar. 2026
The new Homeland Security person needs to unmask the thugs causing harm to families and innocent children.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 15 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thugs
Noun
-
Many of the toughest criminals taken into ICE custody were already in prison, but many others who were arrested have no criminal history.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
25 Apr. 2026
-
In the furthest part of space lies Dante 01, a detention facility that houses criminals who have committed the most shocking crimes imaginable.—
Sergio Pereira,
Space.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Theater owners cut prices and dispensed prizes to ticket buyers as the gangsters effectively cross-pollinated with the studio dance numbers.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Violent gangsters ran fentanyl and human smuggling over the Rio Grande.—
Ioan Grillo,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
One person in Atlanta has appeared in his videos as Batman villains, for free, dressed in homemade costumes that look like they were ripped straight from the television or movies.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Her character joined several others who faced the wrath of Homelander and other villains.—
Staff Author,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The movie is understood to follow a sheriff and a doctor who seek revenge against a group of bandits who use the cover of a torrential thunderstorm to rob and terrorize the occupants of a small town.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
24 Apr. 2026
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On Derby Day in 1923, four masked bandits raided the hotel poker room, escaping into the crowds with what would now amount to a small fortune.—
Hillary Richard,
Robb Report,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
No wonder all these characters wanted to become assassins, Scott implies; they’re removed from reality by so many orders of magnitude that living, breathing fellow humans are just blurry images.—
Theater Critic,
San Francisco Chronicle,
29 Mar. 2026
-
Mirrors were such a precious commodity in the heyday of the Venetian Republic that the assassins were dispatched to, well, dispatch any defectors who left La Serenissima and tried to take the secrets of creating that mesmerizing, reflective surface along with them.—
Mark Ellwood,
Robb Report,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
In the past decade, the leadership of the Kinahan organization has become rich and cosmopolitan, and their life styles have started to resemble those of international businessmen more than of street hoodlums.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.—
Andrew Pulver,
Air Mail,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
Bush and Prime Minister John Major were thick as thieves.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
27 Apr. 2026
-
Investigators noted that shortly before the robbery, the guard opened a door against policy — one that faced the area where the thieves were later seen waiting — a move investigators considered highly unusual and suspicious.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Puntland official said nine pirates boarded and took control of the vessel.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
States that refused to negotiate or did not meet the obligations of the agreements are often branded as pirates and accused of supporting counterfeiting and theft.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Thugs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thugs. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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