Thesaurus results for PLUG-UGLY

plug-ugly

noun

ˈpləg-ˌəg-lē

Definition of plug-ugly

as in thug

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang sent over a couple of hulking plug-uglies to rough up the store owner

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for plug-ugly

Noun

The eponymous former assassin is drawn back into the game after some thugs (led by Alfie Allen) kill his dog and royally piss him off.

— Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 14 Aug. 2026
Tae-ha’s mom left him after Sang-gil, who was also a boxer prior to becoming a thug, cheated in a match.

— Kayti Burt, Time, 7 Aug. 2026

Definition of thug

Noun

Hailing from London as the son of hardscrabble fruit sellers, Winstone was often asked to channel his rough-and-tumble upbringing and pre-acting career as a boxer into mobster and villain roles.

— Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 31 Aug. 2026
Standing in his way is a mysterious villain intent on his destruction.

— Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2026

Definition of villain

Noun

Karp was also involved in the sale last week of a $21 million lot on Palm Island where a mansion owned by gangster Al Capone once stood.

— Catherine Odom, Miami Herald, 18 Aug. 2026
The bodies start piling up – and business booms – but the growing enterprise puts the trio in the crosshairs of the powerful gangsters and underworld figures in the lawless border town of Saribgunj.

— Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of gangster

Noun

Speaking of singing pirates, Curry clearly fancied these kinds of roles, signing on to play the villainous Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island (1996), Brian Henson’s musical adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic novel.

— ArsTechnica, ArsTechnica, 26 Aug. 2026
That is up from Politico’s report that Somali pirates had seized at least three tankers carrying oil and fertilizer since April, while a chemical-carrying ship was hijacked off Yemen in July.

— Joshua Hong, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026

Definition of pirate

Noun

The would-be assassin was arrested by police and led investigators to two members of a Russian mob network who had enlisted him on behalf of Iran.

— Cora Engelbrecht, New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2026
Bannerman centers on the eponymous Paul Bannerman, a lethal covert operative who convinces a group of the world’s most deadly assassins to quit the spy game for a chance to lead normal lives in the suburbs of Connecticut.

— Nellie Andreeva, Deadline, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of assassin

Noun

Also in his orbit are a consortium of crooks, including his cousin Freddie, a hip junkie, and Pepper, a taciturn hoodlum who was friends with Ray’s dad, Big Mike, a legendary thief.

— Niela Orr, Vulture, 20 July 2026
In the past decade, the leadership of the Kinahan organization has become rich and cosmopolitan, and their life styles have started to resemble those of international businessmen more than of street hoodlums.

— Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 30 Apr. 2026

Definition of hoodlum

Noun

The Brigands of Rattlecreek follows a sheriff and a doctor who seek revenge against a group of bandits who use the cover of a torrential thunderstorm to rob and terrorize the occupants of a small town.

— Matt Grobar, Deadline, 25 Aug. 2026
Instead of splitting traffic 50/50 until an end date, AI shifts traffic toward the better performing version while the test is still live, an approach often called a multi-armed bandit.

— Karan Sharma, Forbes.com, 21 Aug. 2026

Definition of bandit

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

plug-uglies

plug-ugly

plug (up)

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“Plug-ugly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plug-ugly. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

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Synonyms of plug-ugly

noun

Example Sentences

Browse Nearby Words

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