hooliganism

noun

hoo·​li·​gan·​ism ˈhü-li-gə-ˌni-zəm How to pronounce hooliganism (audio)
: rowdy, violent, or destructive behavior

Examples of hooliganism in a Sentence

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Since 1985, drinking alcohol in view of the pitch has been banned in men’s professional football in England and Wales, a relic of moral panic amid rampant hooliganism. Lela London, Forbes.com, 25 July 2025 With hooliganism rife in English soccer throughout the 1980s and the events of Heysel still fresh in the memory, there were immediate attempts to assign blame on the Liverpool fans and defend policing at the match. Steve Douglas, Chicago Tribune, 27 May 2025 In 2011, he was fined and banned from Romanian stadiums for six months after being accused of hooliganism and racist chants during a soccer match between Romania and Bosnia. Andrew Higgins, New York Times, 16 May 2025 Mercifully — and unlike the two terraces behind each goal at Valley Parade in an era when hooliganism was rife in English football — there was no security fence to keep fans penned in. Richard Sutcliffe, New York Times, 9 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for hooliganism

Word History

First Known Use

1898, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of hooliganism was in 1898

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Cite this Entry

“Hooliganism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hooliganism. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.

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