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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Examples Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hoodlum
Critics refer to the kids who covered the iconic Beaux Arts-style building as vandals and hoodlums.
—
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
-
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
-
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
-
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
-
It is described as an epic crime series about the most powerful gangster in history to ever turn state’s evidence and an in-depth look at the inner workings of the Mafia.Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 6 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Murder on Music Row, an investigative podcast from The Tennessean, focuses on the 1989 murder of country music chart director Kevin Hughes, who tried to operate with integrity in a business full of sharks and criminals.Keith Sharon, The Tennessean, 20 Dec. 2024
-
A lot of criminals when confronted with the potential of being bitten by a police canine immediately surrender.Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 19 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
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
-
Sony still had the film rights to multiple Spider-Man villains and side-characters, and thus, went to work building its own universe.Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
Noun
-
Guided by Kudrow’s Penelope, the bandits embarked on epic adventures while evil forces were an obstacle.Marc Berman, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2024
-
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 23 Dec. 2024.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share