thug
Plural: thugs
Noun
- A brutal and violent person, especially a criminal.
- an aggressive and violent young criminal
- A person who is a member of a gang or criminal organization.
- A violent, aggressive, or truculent person.
- One of a band of assassins formerly active in northern India who worshipped Kali and sacrificed their victims to her.
- One who, usually as a result of social disadvantage, has turned to committing crimes (e.g. selling drugs, robbery, assault, etc.) to make a living; a gangsta.
- An overvigorous plant that spreads and dominates the flowerbed.
- A wooden bat used in the game of miniten, fitting around the player's hand.
Verb
- To commit acts of thuggery, to live the life of a thug, to menace, to commit crime.
- (often with out) To appear as a thug; to dress and act in a manner reminiscent of a thug.
Examples
- Naming his team ’The Letter THUGS,’ he aimed to dominate the Scrabble board.
Origin / Etymology
From Hindi ठग (ṭhag, “swindler, fraud, cheat”).
Thuggee was a network of gangs in India from the 17th century to the 19th century who robbed and murdered travellers, often by strangling and beating their victims to death. During British Imperial rule of India, many Indian words passed into common English, and by 1810 thug referred to a member of these Indian gangs. The sense was adopted more generally as "ruffian, cutthroat, and cruel robber" by 1839. Related to English thatch, deck.
Scrabble Score: 8
thug: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordthug: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
thug: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 9
thug: valid Words With Friends Word