Klryz
Pronunciation guide: IPA symbols, stress and word endings

Vowels

iːseeɪsite / ɛbedæcat
ɑːfatherɒhot (UK)ɔːlawʊput
uːtooʌcupɜːbirdəabout
eɪdayaɪmyɔɪboyaʊnow
əʊ / oʊgo (UK / US)ɪəneareəhairʊətour

Consonants that look unusual

θthinðthisʃsheʒmeasure
tʃchurchdʒjudgeŋsingjyes

p b t d k g f v s z h m n l r w sound as in ordinary English spelling.

Marks

  • ˈ main stress, before the stressed syllable: /ˈwɔːtə/ water · ˌ lighter (secondary) stress: /ˌʌndəˈstænd/ understand
  • ː a long vowel · (r) an r said only in accents that pronounce it (most American, Scottish, Irish)

Common word endings

  • -s / -es (plurals; he/she form of verbs): /s/ after voiceless sounds (cats), /z/ after voiced (dogs), /ɪz/ after s, z, sh, ch, j sounds (buses, watches). Spelling: -es after s, x, z, ch, sh; consonant + y → -ies (city → cities).
  • -ed (past): /t/ after voiceless sounds (walked), /d/ after voiced (played), /ɪd/ after t or d (wanted). Spelling: love → loved, stop → stopped, carry → carried.
  • -ing: make → making, run → running, see → seeing.
  • Irregular: go, went, gone · be, was, been · see, saw, seen · man → men · child → children · mouse → mice.
  • Older (King James) forms: -eth = -s (he loveth = he loves) · -est with “thou” (thou lovest) · spake = spoke.

English Dictionary · 107,383 entries · Sources & licences

“thugs” is a form of

thug

/θʌɡ/ noun, verb

Forms thugs thugging thugged

  1. noun A person who is a member of a gang or criminal organization.
  2. noun A violent, aggressive, or truculent person.
  3. noun A criminal that extorts people.
  4. noun A person who use intimidation to coerce others.
  5. noun (historical) One of a band of assassins formerly active in northern India who worshipped Kali and sacrificed their victims to her.
  6. noun (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.
  7. noun (horticulture) An overvigorous plant that spreads and dominates the flowerbed.
  8. noun A wooden bat used in the game of miniten, fitting around the player's hand.
  9. verb (informal, transitive) To commit acts of thuggery, to live the life of a thug, to menace, to commit crime.
  10. verb (informal, transitive) (often with out) To appear as a thug; to dress and act in a manner reminiscent of a thug.

Synonyms

phansigar hood hoodlum goon punk tough toughie strong-armer

Etymology

Borrowed from Hindustani ठग (ṭhag) / ٹھگ (ṭhag, “swindler, fraud, cheat”), further derived from Prakrit 𑀞𑀕 (ṭhaga), of uncertain origin. See there for more.
Thuggee was a network of gangs in India from the 17th century to the 19th century who robbed and murdered travellers, often by strangling. During British Imperial rule of India, many Indian words passed into common English, and by 1810 thug referred to a member of these Indian gangs. The sense was adopted more generally as "ruffian, cutthroat, and cruel robber" by 1839. Perhaps related to English thatch, deck.

Webster’s 1913

  1. noun One of an association of robbers and murderers in India who practiced murder by stealthy approaches, and from religious motives.

Etymology [Hind. thag a deceiver, robber.]

Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “thug”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details