Definition of HOODLUM

hoodlum

Plural: hoodlums

Noun

  • A young, aggressive criminal or thug.
  • an aggressive and violent young criminal
  • A gangster; a hired thug.
  • A rough or violent youth.

Examples

  • He played the word HOODLUM, feeling a bit rebellious against the Scrabble rulebook.

Origin / Etymology

First attested in a December 1866 Daily Alta California article, which mentions "the 'Hoodlum Gang' of juvenile thieves". Several possible origins have been proposed. It may derive from a Germanic word like Swabian hudelum (“disorderly”) or Bavarian Haderlump (“ragamuffin”).
Herbert Asbury's book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York) says the word originated in San Francisco from a particular street gang's call to unemployed Irishmen to "huddle 'em" (to beat up Chinese migrants), after which San Francisco newspapers took to calling street gangs "hoodlums".

Synonyms

goon, hood, punk, strong-armer, thug, tough, toughie, agitator, bad boy, bad news, bear, bhoy, blackguard, booger, boot boy, bovver boy, brat, brawler, breedbate, buffoon, bugger, bully, charva, committer, criminal, crook, culprit, cutup, delinquent, desperado, devil, double-dealer, elf, enfant terrible, felon, firebrand, gadfly, hell-raiser, hoodlum, hool, hoolie, hooligan, hothead, imp, inciter, initiator, instigator, jackanapes, joker, jokester, kindle-coal, kindle-fire, knave, lawbreaker, lout, lowlife, makebate, malefactor, malfeasant, minx, mischief, mischief-maker, miscreant, ne'er-do-well, offender, outlaw, perpetrator, pixie, pot stirrer, practical joker, prankster, public enemy, puck, rabble rouser, rakeshame, rantipole, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, roly-poly, rowdy, ruffian, scamp, scapegrace, scofflaw, scoundrel, shit disturber, shit-stirrer, shitmonger, tearaway, titivil, troublemaker, undesirable, vandal, wag, wagpastie, wrangler, yob, yobbo

Scrabble Score: 13

hoodlum: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
hoodlum: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
hoodlum: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 15

hoodlum: valid Words With Friends Word