as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
the loan shark sent a couple of gorillas to "convince" him to pay up
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gorilla
The discovery of language skills in great apes — various gorillas and chimps learned substantial vocabularies in sign language or symbols — and that of tool use across the animal kingdom have, over the years, chipped away at the idea that there is any single ingredient that makes humans unique.
—
Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
My first glimpse of a gorilla was brief, a large male on the path ahead, crouching, his fists pressed into the soil.
—Holden Frith, TheWeek, 9 Jan. 2026
The birth, which is the first of 2026, brings the Bageni family of gorillas to 59 members, which is the largest in the park.
—Kirsty Hatcher, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
Pictures released by the park’s press service showed the 22-year-old Mafuko holding the two baby gorillas, sitting on the ground and partly obscured by branches with green leaves.
—Reuters, NBC news, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gorilla
Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 13 Jan. 2026
My first glimpse of a gorilla was brief, a large male on the path ahead, crouching, his fists pressed into the soil.
—Holden Frith, TheWeek, 9 Jan. 2026
The birth, which is the first of 2026, brings the Bageni family of gorillas to 59 members, which is the largest in the park.
—Kirsty Hatcher, PEOPLE, 8 Jan. 2026
Pictures released by the park’s press service showed the 22-year-old Mafuko holding the two baby gorillas, sitting on the ground and partly obscured by branches with green leaves.
—Reuters, NBC news, 8 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gorilla
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gorilla
Noun
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And Davis’s integrity puts him at odds with his longtime fence, Money (Nick Nolte, nice and growly as ever), who responds by enlisting the services of Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a platinum-blond thug on a motorcycle.—
Justin Chang,
New Yorker,
13 Feb. 2026
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The last major character is Ormon (Barry Keoghan), the thug hired by Nolte’s Money to terrorize his former protégé, and to make sure that any robbery ends with the money in the correct pocket (his).—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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As the now-45-year-old driver was announced at each racetrack in 2025, Hamlin, after years of embracing the role of villain in a sport in desperate need of one, had a heel-turn to the light.—
Alex Zietlow,
Charlotte Observer,
11 Feb. 2026
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Built into an old limestone quarry, the winery felt like a Bond villain’s secret lair—sleek, subterranean, and wildly impressive.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
11 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The West African nation has been fighting an insurgency for more than a decade, with Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State of West Africa Province, in addition to several amorphous groups commonly referred to as bandits.—
Pelumi Salako,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
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In the end, Al-Sufyani drove off the bandits, who only managed to grab two small packages.—
Kerry Burke,
New York Daily News,
3 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Directed and co-written by Alexandre Rockwell, the film follows an aspiring filmmaker (Steve Buscemi) who falls in with an irresistibly charming gangster (Seymour Cassel, who won Sundance’s first acting award) as his erstwhile producer.—
Mark Olsen,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
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That history dates back to the days before Prohibition an the reign of notorious Chicago gangster Al Capone.—
Noel Brennan,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
There’s no word on ICE having a special decoder ring that tracks only the criminals.—
Tressie McMillan Cottom,
Mercury News,
7 Feb. 2026
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Houser said that because the majority of Americans support removing serious criminals, the White House muddies the waters in an effort to maintain support for mass deportations.—
Trevor Hughes,
USA Today,
7 Feb. 2026
Noun
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One week later, on May 15, assassins forced Valdez, 50, from his car at midday and shot him at least a dozen times in downtown Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.—
Foreign Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
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Duterte's threat in an online news conference in November 2024 to have the president, his wife and House of Representatives speaker killed by an assassin if she were killed amid their disputes was also cited in the one of the impeachment complaints.—
JIM GOMEZ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS,
Arkansas Online,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The duo wore Patriots jerseys and hats, one a fluffy American flag design, and the other a hybrid between a pirates hat and a football.—
Jakob Rodgers,
Mercury News,
8 Feb. 2026
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Police in Commerce City are searching for a porch pirate who has been stealing packages from a Reunion neighborhood.—
Jennifer McRae,
CBS News,
5 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Some relied on layers and keeping hoods up, while others said their mindset made all the difference.—
Eva Andersen,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
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The trench doubles as a raincoat and features a detachable hood to keep your hair safe and sound on drizzly days.—
Annie Blackman,
InStyle,
8 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gorilla.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gorilla. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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