as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
the loan shark sent a couple of gorillas to "convince" him to pay up
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Recent Examples of gorilla
Body of knowledge Human birth control pills work on gorillas.
—
Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2025
The awards remain one of the year’s biggest tune-in moments in television outside of the 800-lb. ratings gorilla known as the NFL.
—David Bloom, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
In other words, the energy available to orangutans and gorillas may not be sufficient to support greater levels of activity and social behavior—and meat might be to blame.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
In 2017, a Cheeto resembling Harambe the gorilla fetched nearly $100,000 on auction site eBay.
—Lex Harvey, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gorilla
Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2025
The awards remain one of the year’s biggest tune-in moments in television outside of the 800-lb. ratings gorilla known as the NFL.
—David Bloom, Forbes, 2 Mar. 2025
In other words, the energy available to orangutans and gorillas may not be sufficient to support greater levels of activity and social behavior—and meat might be to blame.
—Scott Travers, Forbes, 9 Mar. 2025
In 2017, a Cheeto resembling Harambe the gorilla fetched nearly $100,000 on auction site eBay.
—Lex Harvey, CNN, 6 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gorilla
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gorilla
Noun
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The British consul wants to smuggle the seal out of China, with the help of a group of local thugs.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2025
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As the machine gun thug tries to seal that deal for Whitman, Cara attempts to get him in her rifle's sights.—
Matt Cabral,
EW.com,
6 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Whereas Serena could easily have emerged as a one-note villain, from the beginning of her tenure on the series, Strahovski has imbued Serena with a soulfulness that often puts the audience uncomfortably on her side, despite her reprehensible actions.—
Scarlett Harris,
IndieWire,
7 Apr. 2025
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Even when a big threat does arrive on the scene, the heroes aren't there right away, so plenty of innocent people get hurt before a villain gets brought to justice.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Then one day, Moses the Black is struck with the horror of it all and joins a desert monastery, where he's eventually killed by another group of bandits.—
Marco della Cava,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2025
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Instead, her love interest is a charming bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), cut from the same cloth as the animated Flynn from Disney’s Tangled.—
Josh Spiegel,
The Hollywood Reporter,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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In 1932 Chicago police raided an apparent summit meeting of gangsters, and arrested Lansky and five others on vagrancy charges.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2025
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Russian gangsters, grenades, terrorist plots, amnesia, and the idyllic Maine coastline all make an appearance.—
Randall Colburn,
EW.com,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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And early intensity gave way to a late-game assassin.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
1 Apr. 2025
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Bruce Glover, the unorthodox actor who portrayed Mr. Wint, the assassin with the distinctive aftershave who partnered with Putter Smith’s Mr. Kidd in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, has died.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Malik revealed that his goal was to practice law, specifically focusing on criminal law and personal injury and criminal.—
Francesca Gariano,
People.com,
1 Apr. 2025
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In the film, Martin Lawrence plays an FBI agent who has to go undercover as a larger-than-life grandma — the eponymous Big Momma — to track down an escaped criminal.—
William Earl,
Variety,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Chan plays Sergeant Dragon Ma, a police officer battling both pirates and gangsters in Hong Kong, and corruption within his law enforcement ranks.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2025
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The scene in Richard Donner's 1985 adventure comedy The Goonies in which the ragtag group of child explorers finally uncover the mythic pirate ship is one of the film's most unforgettable.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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And by the way, those wild, wild horses aren't actually under the hood.—
Joe Salas,
New Atlas,
29 Mar. 2025
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The Analyst agent operates alongside the Researcher within the Copilot ecosystem but with a different approach under the hood.—
Janakiram MSV,
Forbes.com,
28 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gorilla.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gorilla. Accessed 15 Apr. 2025.
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