hoodlum

[ hood-luhm, hood- ]

noun

1. a thug or gangster.
2. a young street ruffian, especially one belonging to a gang.

hoodlum

/ ˈhuːdləm /

noun

1. a petty gangster or ruffian
2. a lawless youth

Derived Forms

• ˈhoodlumism, noun

Other Words From

• hoodlum·ish adjective
• hoodlum·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoodlum¹

1870–75, Americanism; 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoodlum¹

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

Example Sentences

He agreed to make two pictures a year if given time off to act on Broadway, and he bought out his contract to produce “The Hoodlum Priest” independently.

From New York Times

Shakima Tozay was 37 years old and six months pregnant when a nurse, checking the fetal heart rate of the baby boy she was carrying, referred to him as “a hoodlum.”

From New York Times

“I was half a hoodlum,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times

“But, what else was I going to do? I started out being a hoodlum, but could I survive that life? I had to make this work. Before I was doing the rap s—, I was on acid, laid out in the middle of the street. Being a junkie, having no life. Anything I’ve ever had, I took it, you know? So I decided to take this.”

From Los Angeles Times

Johnson had been mythologized in numerous movies, including “Hoodlum,” starring Laurence Fishburne, and “American Gangster,” featuring Denzel Washington as the gangster’s successor.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• criminal
• delinquent
• gangster
• goon
• hooligan
• mobster
• punk
• ruffian
• thug