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
Don’t be a palooka, start Nacua.
—
Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2024
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.
—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
The jokes, by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2017
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
Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2024
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.
—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
The jokes, by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2017
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
-
Like the ghostly hulk of the Titanic below the surface of the sea, Northbrook Court is a quiet and cavernous relic — at the bottom of the retail food chain.—
David Petitti,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Apr. 2025
-
The first night, the characters are menaced by a bald hulk in overalls, wearing a clown mask with the mouth area (including his teeth) smashed in.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
25 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
All matches were best-of-two, and each player started with five minutes on the clock in the winners’ bracket, three minutes in the losers’ bracket, and both had one-second increments with each move (considered time to move the piece).—
Eduardo Tansley,
New York Times,
17 June 2025
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While a loss won't eliminate either team, the winner will advance directly to the semifinals, while the loser will have to play an elimination game against the winner of Murray State vs. Arkansas.—
Kilty Cleary,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 June 2025
Noun
-
Coastal friends, start with fresh jumbo lump crabmeat.—
Mary Shannon Wells,
Southern Living,
26 May 2025
-
Key Takeaways Warts form a hard lump, while skin tags are soft and often on a stalk.—
Lana Barhum,
Verywell Health,
16 May 2025
Noun
-
The toilet does the heavy work automatically with an electromechanical system, so all the owner of said waste has to do is grab the sealed, odorless bag and drop it in the garbage, much like a mutt mitt.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
15 May 2025
-
Remember when this series started, the Nuggets were heavy underdogs, viewed as mutts.—
Troy Renck,
Denver Post,
11 May 2025
Noun
-
Clayface is shape-shifting villain in the Batman comics and got his introduction as part of Detective Comics #40 in June 1940.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
17 June 2025
-
Welcome to the Post-Trust Era A social media app isn’t the villain.—
Ankush Chowdhary,
Forbes.com,
17 June 2025
Noun
-
Among the players connected to the disappearance are a wide and varied cast of Austin characters: an up-and-coming boxer who crossed the border from Mexico under strange circumstances, a rookie cop determined to crack the case, a grifter clown (figurative and literal).—
Lucas Schaefer
June 13,
Literary Hub,
13 June 2025
-
As the animals fought, brass bands played and clowns entertained.—
Hailey Branson-Potts,
Los Angeles Times,
3 June 2025
Noun
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While bears are easily the biggest fear in some parks, a pack of hungry racoons or an inquisitive skunk aren’t to be messed with either.—
Geoffrey Morrison,
Forbes.com,
12 June 2025
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Right before arriving at our campsite, a skunk ran across the front of the car, did a handstand, and then disappeared into the scrub.—
Benji Jones,
Vox,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Palooka.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palooka. Accessed 26 Jun. 2025.
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