Thuggish

//ˈθʌɡɪʃ// adj

adj ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Characterized by thuggery; behaving in a violent or intimidating way; appearing to be violent or intimidating. derogatory

    "Their thuggish manner made continuing negotiations very difficult."

  2. 2
    Resembling or characteristic of the assassins known as thugs or thuggees (often capitalized in this sense). obsolete

    "[…] beside the deceitfulness of the heart and the carnality common to all men, the deep ignorance of the heathen, the abjectness of their social condition, their vain but venerated traditions, their time-honored customs of profligacy, impelling to infanticide, parricide, Thuggish murders, and cannibalism—all conflict steadily with the holiest efforts to transform them into symmetrical Christians."

Synonyms

All synonyms
ruffianishruffianish

Example

More examples

"They are betting this thuggish regime will survive."

Etymology

From thug + -ish.

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