as in hulk
a big clumsy often slow-witted person
I wish he wouldn't bring over here that bunch of palookas he calls his friends
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Recent Examples of palooka
One year after the Academy bafflingly ignored his work in Sideways, Giamatti finally scored his first Oscar nomination for his purely entertaining performance as boxing manager Joe Gould in Ron Howard’s proudly old-fashioned Depression-era palooka drama.
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A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Sylvester Stallone's underdog tale about a struggling palooka given one shot at the heavyweight championship is a stirring sports movie with a level of charm and sweetness that dissipated in the rounds (and rounds) of sequels that followed.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2019
All this real guts and glory in Philadelphia, yet one of the big tourist attractions is to run up the Art Museum steps the way a palooka named Rocky Balboa did on the silver screen.
—Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 1 Jan. 2018
The jokes (by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser) have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2017
Without it, director Phillipe Falardeau's film would be a fairly unremarkable, fairly familiar ride, telling the tale of a big-hearted but undisciplined palooka whose biggest hurdle in life is his own bad judgment.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 17 May 2017
A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Sylvester Stallone's underdog tale about a struggling palooka given one shot at the heavyweight championship is a stirring sports movie with a level of charm and sweetness that dissipated in the rounds (and rounds) of sequels that followed.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2019
All this real guts and glory in Philadelphia, yet one of the big tourist attractions is to run up the Art Museum steps the way a palooka named Rocky Balboa did on the silver screen.
—Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 1 Jan. 2018
The jokes (by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser) have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2017
Without it, director Phillipe Falardeau's film would be a fairly unremarkable, fairly familiar ride, telling the tale of a big-hearted but undisciplined palooka whose biggest hurdle in life is his own bad judgment.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 17 May 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for palooka
Noun
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Kadyrov’s fighters were instrumental in the final assault on Donetsk Airport in January, having fought for months to capture the wrecked hulk of buildings that once made up the passenger terminals.Nicholas Waller, Foreign Affairs, 1 Apr. 2015
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There were literal piles of dead and mangled Russians around the smoldering hulks.David Axe, Forbes, 1 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Green Bay, losers of two straight games, opened as a 3.5-point underdog, but that line has climbed to 4.5 points this week.Rob Reischel, Forbes, 12 Jan. 2025
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The organization that, for the longest time, was the laughable losers of pro sports.Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Variations include banh canh cua, which is often a thick soup with lumps of crab, and banh canh cha ca, a thinner broth with fish cakes that’s popular in south central Vietnam.Christina Liao, Vogue, 27 Dec. 2024
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Steroid injections: Corticosteroid injections may help shrink inflamed lumps and provide quick relief from pain and swelling.Lindsay Curtis, Health, 24 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Two lively mutts guard the noodle factory on the other side of the fence.Anne F. Thurston, Foreign Affairs, 23 Feb. 2016
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It’s been a long time coming for Managing Partner Kathleen Klinger and her cohorts in ownership, one that’s seen this 3,600-square-foot former warehouse repurposed into a mecca for mutts — and cyclists.Amy Drew Thompson, Orlando Sentinel, 29 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Also tossed in are picturesque but gratuitous use of famous tourist landmarks as background, near-superheroic training montages, credible intimate character dynamics, a ruthless villain (Johan Heldenbergh as Vanaken) and action that in the home stretch goes absurdly over-the-top.Dennis Harvey, Variety, 13 Jan. 2025
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And though Young and (especially) the perpetrators of the massacre are clearly the villains of the piece, their past history at least partly explains their choices.Keith Phipps, Vulture, 10 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Both movies feature a killer clown, but while Joaquin Phoenix’s grinning menace suffers from delusions of grandeur and an unspecified mental illness, the hideous ghoul from hell in Terrifier known as Art hacks away at his victims with no discernible motivation beyond the grisly acts themselves.Eric Kohn, The Hollywood Reporter, 6 Jan. 2025
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The story features Mauro, a clown who dreams of a carnival where a parade of revelers are celebrating his life.Joanne Shurvell, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2025
Noun
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Any time an agricultural producer or horse owner or home gardener has a persistent issue with dangerous or destructive animals — skunks denning under a shed, raccoons raiding a chicken coop, bears gorging in a vineyard — Chandler can assist, either with advice or, if necessary, direct intervention.Malcolm Brooks Malcolm Hillgartner Krish Seenivasan Zak Mouton, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024
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That’s a sure way to invite not only raccoons but other unwanted guests such as mice, opossums, and skunks.Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 31 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near palooka
Cite this Entry
“Palooka.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palooka. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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