The small thug beat up the convenience store employee.
Source: tatoeba (917779)
Thug
/θʌɡ/
Synonyms for "thug" (202 found)
Ranked by relevance and common usage.
Closest matches (41)
Strong matches (60)
dacoitdeceiverdesperadodesperate criminaldevildiscipledisputantdouble dealerdouble-dealerduelistdummyenforcereradicatorexecutionerexterminatorfelonfencerfeuderfighterfighting cock
Related words (101)
Noun(22 words)
hooliganjackaljailbirdjousterjudaskillerknightlackeylawbreakermad dogmafiosomanman eaterman-eaterman-killermanslayermassacrermatadormilitantminion
Show 59 more words
miscreantmobsmanmobstermugmuggermurderermyrmidonoutlawpesticideplug uglyplug-uglypoisonpoisonerpublic enemypuppetquarrelerquislingracketeerrioterrivalrobberroughrowdyruffiansabreursatellitescofflawscrapperscufflerslaughtererslayersquabblerstoogestranglerstreetfighterstrongstrong armstrong-arm manstrong-armerstrugglerswashbucklerswindlerswordswordplayerswordsmansycophantterroristthieftiltertorpedotoughtraitortrigger mantusslertwo timertwo-timervotarywrangleryahoo
Choosing the right synonym
- Closest matches in this entry: adherent, apache, assassin, assassinator, bandit.
- Sentence evidence is available for thug, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
- Ranking signals come from moby, derived_reverse, opengloss, wordnet, and related lexical sources.
Synonym selection checklist
- Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
- Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
- Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "thug".
- Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.
When not to replace "thug"
Keep "thug" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.
If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.
Replacement workflow
1. Preserve meaning
Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "thug" intact in the sentence you are editing.
2. Tune tone
Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.
3. Re-read context
Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.
Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.
Final fit check
After choosing a replacement for "thug", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.
If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "thug" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.
Related word relations
OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.
More general
19 entriesShowing 16 of 19 words.
More specific
5 entriesarmed robbergang memberracial slurschool bullyworkplace bully
Collocations
5 entriesarmed thugneighborhood thugstreet thugthug lifeviolent thug
Inflections
1 entriesDerivations
2 entriesTranslations
142 translations across 53 languages.
Afrikaans
1 entries- rampokker noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Albanian
1 entries- rrugaç noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Arabic
2 entries- بلطجي noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- بَلْطَجِيّ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Armenian
2 entries- ավազակ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- մարդասպան noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Avar
1 entries- хъачагъ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Basque
1 entries- gaizkile noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Belarusian
4 entries- банды́т noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- банды́тка noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- галаварэ́з noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- разбо́йнік noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Bengali
2 entries- টেঁটন noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- ঠগ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Bulgarian
4 entries- банди́т noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- банди́тка noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- главоре́з noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- разбо́йник noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Chinese Mandarin
3 entries- 惡棍 /恶棍 noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- 暴徒 noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- 歹徒 noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Czech
4 entries- bandita noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- banditka noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- gangster noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- gangsterka noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Dutch
2 entries- schoelie noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- schurk noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Esperanto
2 entries- bandito noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- brutulo noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Finnish
1 entries- kovanaama noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
French
4 entries- bandit noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- casseur noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- coupe-jarret noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- racaille noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Georgian
2 entries- ყაჩაღი noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- ჩხუბისთავი noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
German
4 entries- Randalierer noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- Rowdy noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- Schläger noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- Schurke noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Greek
1 entries- κακοποιός noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Hebrew
2 entries- אִישׁ זְרוֹעַ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- בִּרְיוֹן noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Hindi
4 entries- टपोरी noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- ठग noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- डाकू noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- मुस्टंडा noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Hungarian
4 entries- bandita noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- gengszter noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- huligán noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- orgyilkos noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Irish
3 entries- amhas noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- bithiúnach noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- maistín noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Italian
2 entries- delinquente noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- teppista noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Japanese
4 entries- サグ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- チンピラ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- 凶悪犯人 noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- 殺し屋 noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Kannada
2 entries- ಕೊಲೆಗಡುಕ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- ಕೊಲೆಗಾರ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Kazakh
1 entries- баскесер noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Khmer
4 entries- កាចកោង noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- តិរច្ឆាន noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- យូកូង noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- អ្នកលេងកាប់ចាក់ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Korean
1 entries- 폭력배 noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Lithuanian
1 entries- banditas noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Malagasy
2 entries- jiolahy noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- mpanendaka noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Mongolian
1 entries- луйварчин noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Norman
1 entries- poltron noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Norwegian Bokmål
2 entries- bølle noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- kjeltring noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Occitan
4 entries- bandit noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- gusàs noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- malfaràs noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- sacamand noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Ossetian
1 entries- стъигъӕг noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Persian
4 entries- اراذل noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- اوباش noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- خلاف کار noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- گانگستر noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Polish
4 entries- bandyta noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- bandytka noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- rzezimieszek noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- zbir noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Portuguese
4 entries- bandido noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- capanga noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- facínora noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- malfeitor noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Russian
4 entries- банди́т noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- банди́тка noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- головоре́з noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- моло́дчик noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Serbo-Croatian
4 entries- rázbojnica noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- rázbōjnīk noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- ра́збо̄јнӣк noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- ра́збојница noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Slovak
1 entries- hrdlorez noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Slovene
2 entries- razbojnica noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- razbojnik noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Sotho
1 entries- tsotsi noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Spanish
3 entries- macarra noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- matón noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- rufián noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Swedish
4 entries- bandit noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- bov noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- gangster noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- skurk noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Tamil
1 entries- கேடி noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Thai
2 entries- นักเลง noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- นักเลงโต noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Turkish
2 entries- eşkıya noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- haydut noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Ukrainian
4 entries- банди́т noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- банди́тка noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- головорі́з noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- горлорі́з noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Urdu
2 entries- ٹھگ noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- ڈاکو noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Vietnamese
1 entries- du côn noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Welsh
3 entries- colbiwr noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- llabwst noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- thyg noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Yiddish
2 entries- שלאַמער noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
- שלעגער noun (someone who treats others violently or roughly)
Sample sentences
19 total sentences available.
Tom is a thug.
Source: tatoeba (1419160)
He's nothing more than a common thug.
Source: tatoeba (2020473)
He threw a punch at the thug.
Source: tatoeba (3663000)
Showing 4 of 19 available sentences.
Common questions
What are the closest synonyms for "thug"?
Closest matches include adherent, apache, assassin, assassinator, bandit.
How should I check whether a synonym fits "thug"?
Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.