as in hulk
a big clumsy often slow-witted person
I wish he wouldn't bring over here that bunch of palookas he calls his friends
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Recent Examples of palooka
Don’t be a palooka, start Nacua.
—
Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2024
One year after the Academy bafflingly ignored his work in Sideways, Giamatti finally scored his first Oscar nomination for his purely entertaining performance as boxing manager Joe Gould in Ron Howard’s proudly old-fashioned Depression-era palooka drama.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Sylvester Stallone's underdog tale about a struggling palooka given one shot at the heavyweight championship is a stirring sports movie with a level of charm and sweetness that dissipated in the rounds (and rounds) of sequels that followed.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2019
All this real guts and glory in Philadelphia, yet one of the big tourist attractions is to run up the Art Museum steps the way a palooka named Rocky Balboa did on the silver screen.
—Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 1 Jan. 2018
Without it, director Phillipe Falardeau's film would be a fairly unremarkable, fairly familiar ride, telling the tale of a big-hearted but undisciplined palooka whose biggest hurdle in life is his own bad judgment.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 17 May 2017
The jokes, by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2017
The jokes (by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser) have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2017
Bill Reinhard, New York Daily News, 12 Dec. 2024
One year after the Academy bafflingly ignored his work in Sideways, Giamatti finally scored his first Oscar nomination for his purely entertaining performance as boxing manager Joe Gould in Ron Howard’s proudly old-fashioned Depression-era palooka drama.
—A.a. Dowd, Vulture, 10 Mar. 2024
Sylvester Stallone's underdog tale about a struggling palooka given one shot at the heavyweight championship is a stirring sports movie with a level of charm and sweetness that dissipated in the rounds (and rounds) of sequels that followed.
—Brian Lowry, CNN, 25 July 2019
All this real guts and glory in Philadelphia, yet one of the big tourist attractions is to run up the Art Museum steps the way a palooka named Rocky Balboa did on the silver screen.
—Bill Livingston, cleveland.com, 1 Jan. 2018
Without it, director Phillipe Falardeau's film would be a fairly unremarkable, fairly familiar ride, telling the tale of a big-hearted but undisciplined palooka whose biggest hurdle in life is his own bad judgment.
—Mike Scott, NOLA.com, 17 May 2017
The jokes, by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser, have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Mercury News, 17 Feb. 2017
The jokes (by screenwriters Van Robichaux and Evan Susser) have all the wit of a punch-drunk palooka.
—Michael O'Sullivan, The Denver Post, 17 Feb. 2017
Recent Examples of Synonyms for palooka
Noun
-
Remember the scene in Marvel's The Avengers, when Bruce Banner transformed into the hulk and punched a Chitauri Leviathan in the face, bringing it to a sudden halt?—
Chris McMullen,
Space.com,
28 Nov. 2025
-
Betty Gilpin as the strong-willed Crete Garfield; Nick Offerman as Chester Arthur, Garfield’s scheming hulk of a vice president; and especially Shea Whigham as Sen. Roscoe Conkling, a New York political boss whose power Garfield wants to circumvent, are magnetic and entertaining.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
12 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Many people envision salary discussions as adversarial encounters with winners and losers.—
Kwame Christian Esq,
Forbes.com,
29 Jan. 2026
-
Picking winners and losers, heroes and villains, pathways to success and failure, generates excitement for an event and manufactures a sense of urgency for maximal viewing pleasure.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together almond flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt, breaking up any lumps.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Sarcoidosis produces lumps or nodules in the lungs.—
Joe Marusak,
Charlotte Observer,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The ordeal generated local headlines, as Berman had to navigate sheer rocks and treacherous terrain in the dark to save the mutt.—
Joe Berman,
Outside,
26 Dec. 2025
-
Having co-created the eponymous pooch, writer Bob Baker retained some of the rights to the character, but crucially not to the design or his connections to a certain Time Lord — hence the extensive makeover and the lack of references to the metal mutt's adventures in space and time.—
Richard Edwards,
Space.com,
13 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Picking winners and losers, heroes and villains, pathways to success and failure, generates excitement for an event and manufactures a sense of urgency for maximal viewing pleasure.—
Brady Brickner-Wood,
New Yorker,
28 Jan. 2026
-
What the late Ka did to build resolve against the unforgiving brutalities of Brownsville, Marci combines with the flair of a Bond villain and contempt for anyone attempting to copy his mold.—
Dylan Green,
Pitchfork,
28 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The Dilbert principle — traced back to a quote in a 1995 strip — posited that managers and higher-ups are actually successful morons whose stubbornness is confused for real leadership qualities.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
13 Jan. 2026
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Overwhelmingly, though, the most common response was to seek confirmation of their suspicions that Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were morons.—
Rosa Lyster,
Harpers Magazine,
30 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
Brewer depicts the world of music impersonators with a fair amount of affection, like the rodeo clowns of late 20th-century America.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
9 Jan. 2026
-
Cirque du Soleil is known for its shows featuring acrobats, athletes and clowns – all doing spectacular feats.—
Brian Steinberg,
Variety,
8 Jan. 2026
Noun
-
The critters who drop in or call the space home range from monarch butterflies, ladybugs and lizards to hummingbirds and bushtits, skunks, opossums and even the occasional mountain lion.—
Caron Golden,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
17 Jan. 2026
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Thiols are responsible for the distinctive aromas of skunk spray and ripe durian; they’re also added to natural gas to provide a detectable rotten-egg smell at even trace levels.—
Nicola Twilley,
New Yorker,
5 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Palooka.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/palooka. Accessed 1 Feb. 2026.
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