as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
a couple of hoodlums held up the convenience store
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Recent Examples of hoodlum
Critics refer to the kids who covered the iconic Beaux Arts-style building as vandals and hoodlums.
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Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, 7 June 2024
Skipping the childhood stuff, the story gets going with Eddie or Edik as a young factory worker and poet manqué in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in the 1960s after a rocky hoodlum phase which saw him getting sent by his parents to a mental hospital.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 May 2024
Those protestors that Saturday didn’t look like principled advocates for anything, but more like a bunch of selfish hoodlums who need to grow up.
—Letter Writers, Twin Cities, 12 May 2024
Citizens began to ask why the supposedly omnipotent Chinese Communist Party was powerless against ragtag hoodlums in the poorest fringes of Asia’s poorest nations.
—TIME, 21 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hoodlum 
Phoebe Wall Howard, Detroit Free Press, 7 June 2024
Skipping the childhood stuff, the story gets going with Eddie or Edik as a young factory worker and poet manqué in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in the 1960s after a rocky hoodlum phase which saw him getting sent by his parents to a mental hospital.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 May 2024
Those protestors that Saturday didn’t look like principled advocates for anything, but more like a bunch of selfish hoodlums who need to grow up.
—Letter Writers, Twin Cities, 12 May 2024
Citizens began to ask why the supposedly omnipotent Chinese Communist Party was powerless against ragtag hoodlums in the poorest fringes of Asia’s poorest nations.
—TIME, 21 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for hoodlum
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoodlum
Noun
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Long maintaining that the protesters are just thugs, Najmeh painfully removes the rounds from Sadaf’s bleeding wounds, her assumptions about the government she’s loyally obeyed falling away.Tim Grierson, Los Angeles Times, 28 Nov. 2024
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The society of Iverson’s youth rendered him an unredeemable thug and jailed him for it as a minor.Marcus Thompson II, The Athletic, 22 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Rolling with the sound of Slo-Be Bryant 3, one of the great West Coast tapes of the 2020s, Slo-Be’s steely, ominous murmurs give his sentimental gangster rap the air of sorcery.Alphonse Pierre, Pitchfork, 9 Dec. 2024
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However, as the volatile gangster, the caregiver and bumbling daddy’s boy begin to plot and scheme, things don’t exactly go according to plan.Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 6 Dec. 2024
Noun
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The film focuses on young Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) — who's accidentally left home alone over the holidays — and his clever plans to outwit a pair of criminals trying to rob his home on Christmas Eve.Athena Sobhan, People.com, 8 Dec. 2024
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Trump has said deportations will focus on criminals first, as immigration enforcement has since former President Barack Obama's presidency.Sarah D. Wire, USA TODAY, 8 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Or even an appearance from Tom Holland’s Peter Parker that would mean two hours haven’t been wasted watching this forgettable origin tale of a villain who’s not really THAT bad.Brian Truitt, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024
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The Grinch bore a striking resemblance to Jim Carrey's version of the beloved Christmas villain.Rachel Raposas, People.com, 13 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Guided by Kudrow’s Penelope, the bandits embarked on epic adventures while evil forces were an obstacle.Marc Berman, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2024
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The bagel at the base of her breakfast bandit has a direct connection to her youth: The dough is prepared daily at A&S Bagels in Franklin Square, N.Y., not far from the streets where Chersevani developed a taste for a bagel and schmear.Tim Carman, Washington Post, 25 July 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near hoodlum
Cite this Entry
“Hoodlum.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoodlum. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.
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