Mug

/mʌɡ/ adj, noun, verb, slang

adj, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A large cup for beverages, usually having a handle and used without a saucer.
  • Grammar: mug is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
  • Nearest alternatives: countenance, visage, aerial photograph, ambush.
  • Useful contrasts: back, carafes, chalice.
  • Usage evidence: He drank that large beer mug dry.

How to use "mug"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "mug" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "mug" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "mug" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "mug" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "mug" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "countenance" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "mug", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A large cup for beverages, usually having a handle and used without a saucer.
  2. 2
    Motherfucker (usually in similes, e.g. "like a mug" or "as a mug") slang
  3. 3
    Alternative form of Magh. alt-of, alternative
  4. 4
    with handle and usually cylindrical wordnet
  5. 5
    The face. derogatory, often, slang

    "[…] 'let him go, I tell you, or I'll be after breaking your ugly mug,' and with that I gave him a dig that knocked him into smithereens."

Show 7 more definitions
  1. 6
    the human face (‘kisser’ and ‘smiler’ and ‘mug’ are informal terms for ‘face’ and ‘phiz’ is British) wordnet
  2. 7
    A gullible or easily cheated person. derogatory, slang

    "He's a gullible mug – he believed her again."

  3. 8
    a person who is gullible and easy to take advantage of wordnet
  4. 9
    A stupid or contemptible person. Australia, Hong-Kong, Ireland, New-Zealand, Singapore, UK, derogatory, slang
  5. 10
    the quantity that can be held in a mug wordnet
  6. 11
    A criminal. slang
  7. 12
    A mug shot. slang

    "Perhaps if I told you that there were forty arrests made in one day here, you will realize that with this small equipment available in the Sheriff's Office, it is very difficult to get mugs. These people are being mugged as they are being arrested but with an entirely inadequate force at work prints have not as yet been made."

Verb
  1. 1
    To strike in the face. Ireland, UK, obsolete, transitive

    "Madgbury showed game, drove Abbot in a corner, but got well Mugg'd."

  2. 2
    To stare awkwardly wordnet
  3. 3
    To assault for the purpose of robbery. transitive
  4. 4
    rob at gunpoint or with the threat of violence wordnet
  5. 5
    To exaggerate a facial expression for communicative emphasis; to make a face, to pose, as for photographs or in a performance, in an exaggerated or affected manner. intransitive

    "The children weren't interested in sitting still for a serious photo; they mugged for the camera."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    To photograph for identification; to take a mug shot of. transitive

    "Perhaps if I told you that there were forty arrests made in one day here, you will realize that with this small equipment available in the Sheriff's Office, it is very difficult to get mugs. These people are being mugged as they are being arrested but with an entirely inadequate force at work prints have not as yet been made."

  2. 7
    To learn or review a subject as much as possible in a short time; cram. Australia, Hong-Kong, Ireland, New-Zealand, Singapore, UK, slang
Adjective
  1. 1
    Easily fooled, gullible. archaic

    ""Great heavens! Is it?" Drummond helped himself to marmalade. "And to think that I once pictured myself skewering Huns with it. Do you think anybody would be mug enough to buy it, James?""

  2. 2
    Uninteresting or unpleasant. slang

    "But anyways, I stayed back a second year and my papa was visiting when momma was opening de report card. Papa gave me de muggest moment in my life like."

Synonyms

All synonyms
countenancevisageaerial photographambushassailassault

Example

"He drank that large beer mug dry."

Common questions

What does "mug" mean?

A large cup for beverages, usually having a handle and used without a saucer.

What is a synonym for "mug"?

Common synonyms include: countenance, visage, aerial photograph, ambush, assail, assault.

How do you use "mug" in a sentence?

He drank that large beer mug dry.

How do you pronounce "mug"?

Pronounced /mʌɡ/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

Early 16th century (originally Scots and northern English, denoting "earthenware, pot, jug"), of unknown origin, perhaps from North Germanic (compare Swedish mugg (“mug, jug”), Norwegian mugge (“pitcher, open can for warm drinks”), Danish mugge), or Low German mokke, mukke (“mug”), German Low German Muck (“drinking cup”), Dutch mok (“mug”), also of unknown origin. Perhaps related to Old English muga (“stack”) and Old Norse múgr (“mass, heap (of corn)”). Compare also Middle English mug, mog (“a measure of salt”).

Etymology 2

Informal variant of motherfucker.

More for "mug"

Synonyms

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