as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
London bobbies clearing the streets of hooligans
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Recent Examples of hooligan
There’s a little bit of fear now, of people losing control, of hooligans.
—
Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 19 May 2025
More menacingly, anti-Semitic Polish-nationalist hooligans have mounting success enforcing a boycott against Jewish merchants in villages across the region.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025
As if to prove his point about support for environmental causes, Millwall fans, often lazily stereotyped as hooligans more interested in Green Street than going green, are proving how outdated such stereotypes are by leading one environmental league table.
—Steve Price, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hooligan
Dermot Corrigan, New York Times, 19 May 2025
More menacingly, anti-Semitic Polish-nationalist hooligans have mounting success enforcing a boycott against Jewish merchants in villages across the region.
—Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 2025
As if to prove his point about support for environmental causes, Millwall fans, often lazily stereotyped as hooligans more interested in Green Street than going green, are proving how outdated such stereotypes are by leading one environmental league table.
—Steve Price, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
After the know-nothing county board opts to raze the baseball diamond to make way for a school, the teams meet for one final game at their beloved Soldier’s Field, with girlfriends, kids, and local hooligans as intermittent spectators.
—Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for hooligan
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hooligan
Noun
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The 18th Street thugs then attacked a second victim with large wooden planks, causing lacerations that required sutures.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
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Plus, she wasn’t forced to live in a remote jungle compound surrounded by gun-toting thugs, because no one was coming after her.—
Sam Kelly,
Time,
8 July 2025
Noun
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Anti-crime priorities In his remarks, Abbott also unveiled some get-tougher-on crime proposals, including eliminating parole for criminals convicted of child trafficking.—
John C. Moritz,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
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And despite promises by the administration to remove the worst criminals, ICE deportation data from Jan. 1 to June 24 shows most people who were removed or detained didn’t have a violent criminal record, CBS News reported.—
Natalie Demaree,
Miami Herald,
28 July 2025
Noun
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The Japanese criminal organization puts a hit out on Ju-yeong, and gangsters flock to the city to take him out.—
Kayti Burt,
Time,
21 July 2025
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The audio clip has been used by Venezuelans to ridicule the widespread suggestion that everyone from the country is a gangster.—
Melissa Sanchez,
ProPublica,
18 July 2025
Noun
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The film, which celebrated its 70th anniversary last year, follows a group of seven samurai warriors who save a little village from annihilation at the hands of a group of bandits in 15th-century Japan.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
22 July 2025
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Riri joins their band of bandits — hacker Slug (Shea Couleé), pyrotechnic master Clown (Sonia Denis), enforcers Jeri (Zoe Terakes) and Roz (Shakira Barrera) aka the Blood Siblings.—
Ronda Racha Penrice,
HollywoodReporter,
11 July 2025
Noun
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The film is currently filming in London with Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors behind the highest-grossing MCU movies ever, back behind the camera; Downey now playing the chief villain; and a slew of stars from the lost era of Fox's X-Men movies reprising their roles for the first time in years.—
EW.com,
EW.com,
24 July 2025
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In 1994, Hogan joined WCW and reinvented himself as a villain, forming the New World Order (nWo) and ushering in a new era of edgy storytelling.—
Hannah Parry
Amanda Castro
Joshua Rhett Miller,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 July 2025
Noun
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Sir Jimmy Crystal gives deeply unsettling vibes from the get-go, and while his bizarre gang of hoodlums do save Spike’s life, it’s implied that Spike may have wandered into a much worse situation.—
Dani Di Placido,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
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Critics say police gave up when the rioting erupted in 1992, letting big chunks of the city burn while looters and hoodlums ruled.—
Seema Mehta,
Los Angeles Times,
12 June 2025
Noun
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Long romanticized by cinema (hello, Jack Sparrow), pirate imagery is sneaking into fashion shows, reinterpreted with with luxurious materials, high shafts, relaxed structure, and lots of buckles.—
María Munsuri,
Glamour,
27 July 2025
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The result was a very distinct split between those who figured out the game and stopped trading with the planet that produced the pirate spaceship, and those who did not.—
Jennifer Ouellette,
ArsTechnica,
24 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Hooligan.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hooligan. Accessed 6 Aug. 2025.
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