hoodlum

noun

hood·​lum ˈhüd-ləm  ˈhu̇d- 

plural hoodlums

1

somewhat old-fashioned : a usually violent criminal

… hoodlums smashed through the glass enclosed foyer of a Royal Bank of Canada branch with a backhoe and scooped a machine right from the wall.

—Ron Suskind

Newspapers and broadcasters all over the country, including the New York Times, referred to this … murder as an "execution," and the hoodlums as an "execution team."

—Harold Evans

On October 24, 1931, Judge James H. Wilkerson sentenced America's most powerful hoodlum to eleven years in jail, fines of $50,000, and court costs of $30,000.

—David Burnham

2

somewhat old-fashioned : a young person who behaves in a rowdy or intimidating way : ruffian

… a moonlit late-summer battle between leather-jacketed hoodlums and T-shirt-clad fathers …

—David Leavitt

Yeah, the girl has a little hoodlum in her. She's a hard-edged street kid who can probably kick Dick Button's butt.

—Bryan Burwell

… the court sits just below … where Coney Island's worst hoodlums sometimes pass a summer evening "getting hectic," as they say—shooting at each other or tossing batteries and beer bottles onto the court from apartment windows fifteen stories above.

—Darcy Frey

hoodlumish

ˈhüd-lə-mish 

ˈhu̇d-

adjective somewhat old-fashioned

hoodlumism

ˈhüd-lə-ˌmi-zəm 

ˈhu̇d-

noun somewhat old-fashioned

Did you know?

A hoodlum can be anyone from a dangerous thug to a young person who's just up to no good. The exact origins of the word are not known, but one theory is that the word derives from hudelum, an adjective that means "disorderly" in dialects of German spoken in and around the region of Swabia. A similar-looking word for a young troublemaker is hooligan, but that word is not related to hoodlum; rather, it most likely derives from the name of Patrick Hooligan, an Irish youth purported to have wreaked havoc in the streets of Southwark, England, in the late 19th century.

Synonyms

• bully
• gangbanger
• gangsta
• gangster
• goon
• gorilla
• hood
• hooligan
• mobster
• mug
• plug-ugly
• punk
• roughneck
• rowdy
• ruffian
• thug
• tough
• toughie
• toughy
• yob [British]
• yobbo [British]

Examples of hoodlum in a Sentence

a couple of hoodlums held up the convenience store

Recent Examples on the Web

While Muhammad Ali made his professional boxing comeback with a win against Jerry Quarry at Atlanta’s Municipal Auditorium on October 26, 1970, a group of hoodlums robbed the Black Mafia of more than $1 million in cash and jewelry at a nearby after-party. —Bill Desowitz, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2024

The Chicago Crime Commission’s president was outraged when an Indiana prosecutor posed for a newspaper photographer with his arm around Dillinger earlier in 1934 while the hoodlum awaited trial for killing a police officer during a bank robbery. —Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune, 21 July 2024

As Velma Davis, she and scene partner Gene Wilder, in his big screen debut, portrayed two young lovebirds who, while kissing on their front porch, notice that a group of hoodlums is stealing Eugene’s car. —Greg Evans, Deadline, 20 June 2024

Critics refer to the kids who covered the iconic Beaux Arts-style building as vandals and hoodlums. —Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, 7 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

perhaps from German dialect (Swabia) hudelum disorderly

First Known Use

1866, in the meaning defined at sense 1

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Kids Definition

hoodlum

noun

hood·​lum ˈhüd-ləm 

1

: a usually violent criminal

2

: a youth whose behavior is rowdy or intimidating