thug

noun

ˈthəg 

plural thugs

1

see usage paragraph below : a violent or brutish criminal or bully

a brutal thug

a gang of thugs

… in American History X, Norton … plays a vicious young Venice Beach thug, a racist skinhead with … a thick black swastika tattooed over one bulging pec, and a gleam of murder in his eye.

—Owen Gleiberman

An authoritarian government willing to use the most brutal means to hold on to power; a dictator whose thugs have murdered, tortured, imprisoned or intimidated tens of thousands of civilians …

—Michiko Kakutani

2

: a member of a group of murderous robbers in India's past whose activities were suppressed in the early 19th century

thuggery

ˈthə-g(ə-)rē 

noun

thuggish

ˈthə-gish 

adjective

Usage of Thug

Although thug was originally (and often still is) a term with strong negative connotations, since at least the early 1990s it has been embraced and reconceived by rap artists.

[Tupac Shakur's] vision redefined the word "thug" into a man who triumphs over systemic and societal obstacles.

—Mosi Reeves

It now functions in African-American English with far more nuance than those unfamiliar with that reconception will recognize.

"A thug in black people's speech is somebody who is a ruffian but in being a ruffian is displaying a healthy sort of countercultural initiative, displaying a kind of resilience in the face of racism etc. Of course nobody puts it that way, but that's the feeling. And so when black people say it, they don't mean what white people mean …"

—John McWhorter

The word's original and ongoing use to refer to criminals is still very much present in the culture at large, however, and use of thug by a white person to refer to a Black person is generally understood to lack the nuance the word carries when used by a Black person, and to instead be an offensive insinuation that a Black person can be assumed to be engaged in criminal behavior.

Synonyms

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

Examples of thug in a Sentence

He was beaten and robbed by street thugs.

the Mob boss regularly sent his thugs after people who were slow to pay their debts

Recent Examples on the Web

The proximate cause of the war crimes chronicled in Han’s novels is South Korea’s succession of authoritarian governments, their soldiers and police; on Jeju Island, these were joined by gangs of right-wing thugs. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 14 Jan. 2025

Like Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, Assad will be remembered as a thug who left his country on the brink of state failure. —Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 10 Jan. 2025

Yes, that is Canet playing the paragliding avenger, Franck, who’s trying to free his abducted pregnant wife, Léo (Stéphane Caillard), from a blackmailing thug. —Elisabeth Vincentelli, New York Times, 10 Jan. 2025

The bowling aficionado then embarks on a dangerous quest with his bowling pals that sees him tussle with thugs, meet the real Big Lebowski, hide ransom money in his car, and most importantly, bowl. —EW.com, 8 Jan. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Hindi & Urdu ṭhag, literally, thief

First Known Use

1839, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

thug

noun

ˈthəg 

: ruffian

Etymology

from Hindi and Urdu ṭhag, literally "thief"

Word Origin

Thug was the name given by the British in India in the 19th century to a member of a band of thieves and murderers. A thug would pretend to be friendly with a traveler and offer to share a journey. Then as soon as it was safe to do so, the thug would strangle and rob his companion. The word thug comes from ṭhag, a word in the Indian language Hindi meaning one of these robbers. Since thugs made travel dangerous, the British government rounded up most of them, and in a few years they were no longer a threat. The word thug, however, has lasted till today and even taken on the broader meaning of "ruffian."