hoodlum

hood·lum

(ho͞od′ləm, ho͝od′-)

1. A gangster; a thug.

2. A tough, often aggressive or violent youth.

[Origin unknown.]

hood′lum·ism n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hoodlum

(ˈhuːdləm)

1. a petty gangster or ruffian

2. a lawless youth

[C19: perhaps from Southern German dialect Haderlump ragged good-for-nothing]

ˈhoodlumism n

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hood•lum

(ˈhud ləm, ˈhʊd-)

n.

1. a thug or gangster.

2. a young street ruffian.

[1870–75, Amer.; probably < dial. German; compare Swabian derivatives of Hudel rag]

hood′lum•ish, adj.

hood′lum•ism, n.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

hoodlum - an aggressive and violent young criminal

hood, punk, strong-armer, thug, toughie, goon, tough

bully - a hired thug

criminal, crook, felon, malefactor, outlaw - someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime

hoodlum

noun (Informal) thug, hooligan, ruffian, vandal, delinquent, rowdy, lout, tearaway, hoon (Austral. & N.Z.), bruiser (informal), boot boy, yob or yobbo (Brit. informal) Caruso is a small-time hoodlum attempting to go straight.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

hoodlum

noun

1. A person who treats others violently and roughly, especially for hire:

ruffian, thug, tough.

Informal: hooligan.

Slang: goon, gorilla, hood.

2. A rough, violent person who engages in destructive actions:

mug, roughneck, rowdy, ruffian, tough.

Informal: toughie.

Slang: hood, punk.

Translations

شَخص مُحِب للتدميرمُجْرِم

chuligángangsterničema

bøllegangster

Ganove Strolch

gangster voyou

glæpamaîurskemmdarvargur

teppista

bandītsgangsteris

ramp

katil külhanbeyi serseri

强盗恶棍

hoodlum

[ˈhuːdləm] N → matón/ona m/f, gorila m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hoodlum

[ˈhuːdləm] n → truand m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

hoodlum

n → Rowdy m; (= member of gang) → Ganove m (inf), → Gangster m (inf); you young hoodlum → du Rowdy, du Rüpel

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

hoodlum

[ˈhuːdləm] n → teppista m/f

hoodlum

(ˈhuːdləm) noun

1. a destructive person.

2. (especially American) a criminal.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

You've got a cinch-nobody to think of but your own precious self--an' a lot of young hoodlums makin' eyes at you an' tellin' you how beautiful your eyes are.

Just the same he's oodles better'n your bunch of hoodlums that no decent woman'd wipe her one pair of shoes on.

View in context

That bunch of hoodlums was lookin' for trouble, an' Arthur wasn't botherin' 'em none.

And while Arthur took up the tale, for the twentieth time, of his adventure with the drunken hoodlums on the ferry-boat and of how Martin Eden had rushed in and rescued him, that individual, with frowning brows, meditated upon the fool he had made of himself, and wrestled more determinedly with the problem of how he should conduct himself toward these people.

View in context

And then, after hours of wandering and toil, we encountered a gang of hoodlums. They were not I.L.W.

View in context

I had heard of the Sporting Life Gang before, a crowd of hoodlums and criminals that terrorized the lower quarters of Oakland, and two-thirds of which were usually to be found in state's prison for crimes that ranged from perjury and ballot-box stuffing to murder.

View in context

A village councilor in Malabon City was shot dead on Wednesday morning, around three weeks after he started receiving death threats, with the killer claiming the victim was a 'hoodlum.'

Malabon barangay councilor killed after getting death threats

Duterte napili natin hindi statesman, hoodlum.' Why?

Duterte: 'Killings? I've killed many. I'm just beginning'

Unfortunately, Standard owes prison protection money from his time behind bars to hoodlum Cook (James Biberi).

Keep the engine running

I had the itch for a long time, and like a good junior hoodlum, I wanted to get one.

Mofo: the first thrasher tattoo

In Inner City Hoodlum, Goines describes a young black man's frame of mind when he decides to become a criminal: "Johnny had quit school, realizing that with the constant shootings and chaotic happenings, he would never learn anything valuable that would allow him to survive.