thuggish
/ˈθʌɡɪʃ/adjective
thuggish is spelled T-H-U-G-G-I-S-H: 8 letters. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a derogatory adjective, thuggish means “Characterized by thuggery; behaving in a violent or intimidating way; appearing to be violent or intimidating” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in thuggish?
| Letters | 8: T-H-U-G-G-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 73,203rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is thuggish?
Thuggish appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 73,203rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce thuggish?
- /ˈθʌɡɪʃ/
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-thuggish.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of thuggish
- more thuggish comparative
- most thuggish superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does thuggish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
derogatoryCharacterized by thuggery; behaving in a violent or intimidating way; appearing to be violent or intimidating.
Their thuggish manner made continuing negotiations very difficult.
- 2
obsoleteResembling or characteristic of the assassins known as thugs or thuggees (often capitalized in this sense).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Thuggish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Translations:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does thuggish come from?
From thug + -ish.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).