hoodlum

Meaning

1. A gangster; a hired thug.
2. A rough or violent youth.

Synonyms

hooligan

ruffian

thug

rascal

mobster

gangster

criminal

rogue

rowdy

scoundrel

tough

hood

lout

renegade

malefactor

punk

strong-armer

goon

roughneck

tramp

toughie

rapscallion

vagabond

racketeer

rat

🐀

riff-raff

rioter

roisterer

ruffler

scallywag

scamp

smart

swine

touchwood

trouble maker

vagrant

wandering

worthless

wrongdoer

evil-doer

tough guy

larrikin

rascallion

gang member

agitator

muscle boy

bad egg

bad lot

blighter

bloke

Translations

matón

Ganove

voyou

gangster

teppista

Strolch

facinora

bandido

malfeitor

vaurien

Halbstarker

marginal

bandit

gângster

kabadayı

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈhuːdləm/

Etymology

First attested in a December 1866 Daily Alta California article, which mentions "the 'Hoodlum Gang' of juvenile thieves". Several possible origins have been proposed. It may derive from a Germanic word like Swabian hudelum (“disorderly”) or Bavarian Haderlump (“ragamuffin”).
Herbert Asbury's book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York) says the word originated in San Francisco from a particular street gang's call to unemployed Irishmen to "huddle 'em" (to beat up Chinese migrants), after which San Francisco newspapers took to calling street gangs "hoodlums".