thug

English

Etymology

From Hindi ठग (ṭhag, “swindler, fraud, cheat”), from Ashokan Prakrit *𑀞𑀕𑁆𑀕𑁆- (*ṭhagg-), from Sanskrit स्थग (sthaga, “cunning, fraudulent, to cover, to conceal”) hence स्थगति (sthagati, “he/she/it covers, he/she/it conceals”), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *stʰagáti.

Thuggee was an Indian network of secret fraternities who were engaged in murdering and robbing travellers and known for strangling their victims, operating from the 17th century (possibly as early as 13th century) to the 19th century. During British Imperial rule of India, many Indian words passed into common English, and in 1810 thug referred to members of these Indian gangs. The sense was adopted more generally as "ruffian, cutthroat" by 1839. See also English thatch, deck.

Pronunciation

• enPR: thŭg, IPA^(key): /θʌɡ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• IPA^(key): /tʰəɡ/
• Rhymes: -ʌɡ

Noun

thug (plural thugs)

1. Someone with an intimidating and unseemly appearance and mannerisms, who treats others violently and roughly, often for hire.
2. (historical) One of a band of assassins formerly active in northern India who worshipped Kali and offered their victims to her.

   Synonym: phansigar

3. (horticulture) An over-vigorous plant that spreads and dominates the flowerbed.
4. A punk; a hoodlum; a hooligan.
5. A wooden bat used in the game of miniten, fitting around the player's hand.
   • 2021, Anna Durand, Natural Satisfaction

     I pushed up out of my chaise and headed for the miniten court. Leah handed me her thug as I walked past her.

6. (African-American Vernacular) 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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:villain

Derived terms

• thug life
• thuggery
• thuglike
• thuggish
• thuggism
• thuggy

Translations

someone who treats others violently or roughly

• Abkhaz: please add this translation if you can
• Afrikaans: rampokker (af)
• Albanian: rrugaç (sq)
• Arabic: بَلْطَجِيّ (ar) m (balṭajiyy)
• Armenian: ավազակ (hy) (avazak), մարդասպան (hy) (mardaspan)
• Avar: please add this translation if you can
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Bengali: ঠগ (bn) (ṭhog)
• Bulgarian: главоре́з (bg) m (glavoréz), разбо́йник (bg) m (razbójnik)
• Chechen: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 惡棍／恶棍 (zh) (ègùn), 恶棍 (zh) (ègùn), 暴徒 (zh) (bàotú), 歹徒 (zh) (dǎitú)

• Czech: bandita (cs) m, gangster m
• Dutch: schoelie, schurk (nl)
• Esperanto: bandito (eo), brutulo
• Finnish: roisto (fi), väkivaltarikollinen (fi), rosvo (fi)
• French: bandit (fr) m, voyou (fr) m, casseur (fr) m, racaille (fr) m or f
• Georgian: ჩხუბისთავი (čxubistavi), ყაჩაღი (q̇ačaɣi)
• German: Rowdy (de) m, Schläger (de) m, Randalierer (de) m
• Greek: κακοποιός (el) c (kakopoiós)
• Hebrew: בִּרְיוֹן (he) m (biryón), (flowerly) אִישׁ זְרוֹעַ m (ish zróa)
• Hindi: ठग (hi) m (ṭhag), टपोरी m (ṭaporī), मुस्टंडा (hi) m (musṭaṇḍā)
• Hungarian: orgyilkos (hu), bandita (hu), gengszter (hu), huligán (hu), zsivány (hu)
• Irish: maistín m, amhas m, bithiúnach m
• Italian: delinquente (it) m, teppista (it) m or f
• Japanese: 凶悪犯 (kyōakuhan), ちんぴら (chinpira), 殺し屋 (ja) (goroshiya), サグ (ja) (sagu)
• Kannada: ಕೊಲೆಗಡುಕ (kn) (kolegaḍuka), ಕೊಲೆಗಾರ (kn) (kolegāra)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Khmer: តិរច្ឆាន (km) (teracchaan), អ្នកលេងកាប់ចាក់ (nĕək leing kap cak), យូកូង (yuu koung), កាចកោង (kaac kaong)
• Korean: 폭력배(暴力輩) (ko) (pongnyeokbae)
• Lithuanian: banditas
• Malagasy: jiolahy (mg), mpanendaka
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Norman: poltron m
• Norwegian: bølle, kjeltring (no)
• Occitan: sacamand (oc) m, bandit m, malfaràs m, gusàs m
• Ossetian: please add this translation if you can
• Persian: خلاف کار (xalâf kâr), اوباش (fa) (owbâš), اراذل (fa) (arâzel), گانگستر (fa) (gângester)
• Polish: zbir (pl), bandyta (pl), bandytka (pl) f, rzezimieszek (pl), zbój (pl) m
• Portuguese: bandido (pt) m, facínora (pt) m, malfeitor (pt) m, capanga (pt)
• Russian: уби́йца (ru) m (ubíjca), головоре́з (ru) m (golovoréz), разбо́йник (ru) m (razbójnik), моло́дчик (ru) (molódčik), банди́т (ru) m (bandít)
• Serbo-Croatian: razbojnik (sh), разбојник m
• Slovene: please add this translation if you can
• Sotho: tsotsi
• Spanish: matón m, macarra (es) m or f, rufián (es) m, perdonavidas (es)
• Swedish: gangster (sv) c, bandit (sv) c, skurk (sv) c, bov (sv) c
• Thai: นักเลงโต (th) (nák-leeng dtoh), นักเลง (th) (nák-leeng)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: haydut (tr), eşkıya (tr)
• Tuvan: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
• Urdu: ٹھگ (ur) m (ṭhag)
• Vietnamese: du côn (vi)
• Welsh: llabwst m, colbiwr m, thyg m
• Yiddish: שלעגער m (shleger), שלאַמער m (shlamer) (slang)

a member of the Thuggee

• Bengali: ঠগ (bn) (ṭhog)
• Hindi: ठग (hi) (ṭhag)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Urdu: ٹھگ (ur) (ṭhag)
• Welsh: thygî m, llindagwriaeth f, llindagwr m

Verb

thug (third-person singular simple present thugs, present participle thugging, simple past and past participle thugged)

1. To commit acts of thuggery, to live the life of a thug, or to dress and act in a manner reminiscent of someone who does.

Anagrams

• Guth

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Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhʊɡ/
• IPA^(key): /ˈhʌɡ/

Verb

thug

1. past indicative analytic of tabhair

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Scottish Gaelic

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [huk]

Verb

thug (dependent tug)

1. Template:past tense of