hoodlum
Americannoun
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a thug or gangster.
-
a young street ruffian, especially one belonging to a gang.
noun
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a petty gangster or ruffian
-
a lawless youth
Other Word Forms
- hoodlumish adjective
- hoodlumism noun
Etymology
Origin of hoodlum
1870–75, probably < dialectal German; compare Swabian derivatives of Hudel rag, e.g. hudelum disorderly, hudellam weak, slack Hudellump ( e ) rags, slovenly, careless person, and related words in other dialects
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“These are the actions of opportunistic hoodlums who don’t care about the immigrants,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times
The authorities say the curfew is necessary because "hoodlums" have hijacked the protests in order to loot and vandalise properties.
From BBC
She told them, “You rotten hoodlums! What are you doing in this town?” she recalled in an oral history interview.
From New York Times
As with the original, this new version approaches the outlaw life from the perspective of the filthy rich bosses, trying to manage a business staffed by unreliable hoodlums.
From New York Times
“We were hoodlums in a sense, out of our circumstances,” he said during an interview at his Berkeley co-op in May.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
