Mugger

//ˈmʌɡɚ// adj, noun

adj, noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person who assaults and robs others, especially in a public place.
  2. 2
    A large crocodile, Crocodylus palustris, of southwest Asia, having a very broad wrinkled snout.
  3. 3
    a robber who takes property by threatening or performing violence on the person who is robbed (usually on the street) wordnet
  4. 4
    A person who makes exaggerated faces, as a performance; a gurner.
Adjective
  1. 1
    comparative form of mug: more mug comparative, form-of

Synonyms

All synonyms
aggressorassailantassailerassaulterattackerbank robber

Example

More examples

"A mugger robbed him of all of his money."

Etymology

Etymology 1

From mug + -er.

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Hindi मगर (magar) / Urdu مَگَر (magar, “crocodile, alligator”), from Sanskrit मकर (makara, “sea monster”), ultimately from Proto-Dravidian *nek-V-ḷ- (“crocodile”) (DEDR 3732; reconstruction of Krishnamurti 2003) or Proto-Dravidian *mokaray- (“crocodile”), a verbal noun from *mok- / *moṅku- (“to eat greedily in large mouthfuls, devour, gobble”) (DEDR 5127 + 4897).

Related phrases

charity muggermike mugger

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.