hooligan

Plural: hooligan, hooligans

Noun

• A ruffian or a rowdy, destructive young person.
• a cruel and brutal fellow
• A young person who causes trouble or violence, typically as a member of a gang or other group.
• Ellipsis of football hooligan.
• A member of the United States Coast Guard.
• A type of fish, an anadromous smelt, Thaleichthys pacificus, found in the North Pacific.

Verb

• To act as a hooligan.
• To treat (a person) roughly.

Examples

• Despite appearing like a HOOLIGAN, his Scrabble plays were surprisingly strategic and well-placed.

Synonyms

bully, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, tough, yob, yobbo, yobo, agitator, bad boy, bad news, bear, bhoy, blackguard, booger, boot boy, bovver boy, brat, brawler, breedbate, buffoon, bugger, candlefish, charva, cutup, devil, elf, enfant terrible, eulachon, firebrand, gadfly, hell-raiser, hood, hoodlum, hool, hoolie, hooligan, hothead, imp, inciter, initiator, instigator, jackanapes, joker, jokester, kindle-coal, kindle-fire, knave, lout, makebate, minx, mischief, mischief-maker, miscreant, ne'er-do-well, pixie, pot stirrer, practical joker, prankster, puck, rabble rouser, rakeshame, rantipole, rapscallion, rascal, rogue, roly-poly, scamp, scapegrace, scoundrel, shit disturber, shit-stirrer, shitmonger, tearaway, thug, titivil, troublemaker, undesirable, vandal, wag, wagpastie, wrangler

Related Words

hooliganism, lout, thug, yob, yobbo