Definition of hooligan in English:

noun

• A violent young troublemaker, typically one of a gang.

  ‘a drunken hooligan’

  as modifier ‘hooligan behaviour’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Residents are being driven out of their homes by young yobs and hooligans who are making their lives a misery.’
  • ‘There was nothing unusual about any of this and no doubt the hooligan gangs of both clubs were eager for more trouble after the game.’
  • ‘Officers have been given the go-ahead to impose curfews and exclusion zones on young hooligans.’
  • ‘Their peace of mind has been shattered by young hooligans who use the derelict estate as their playground.’
  • ‘Young hooligans face being barred from Otley as part of a crackdown on crime in the town centre.’
  • ‘Football violence has increased markedly in the city in recent years and there have been numerous outbreaks of trouble between rival hooligan gangs.’
  • ‘The hooligans also vandalised changing rooms at a nearby school.’
  • ‘The government is to get tough on hooligans who cause mayhem with fireworks.’
  • ‘The Japanese authorities had feared an invasion of English hooligans, but there has been little trouble so far.’
  • ‘The hooligan element has re-emerged at every level of football.’
  • ‘She said the police should have done more to stop the hooligans.’
  • ‘A drunken hooligan who smashed a glass into a motorist's face has been jailed for 18 months.’
  • ‘The hotel was banned from serving late drinks 20 years ago after drunken hooligans made life a misery for residents.’
  • ‘A gang of teenage hooligans has turned a quiet Carroll Gardens park in into a war zone.’
  • ‘Although hard, the work was rewarding and enjoyable: I spent most of my time playing sports or going out on field trips with gangs of little hooligans.’
  • ‘A 10-year-old girl fighting for her life after being thrown from an unsaddled horse had just rescued the animal from a gang of hooligans and was trying to take it to safety when the accident occurred.’
  • ‘Seventy people, if you can call a screaming mob of hooligans human in any meaningful sense of the word, have been arrested for their role in the destruction of 18,000 books and 30,000 manuscripts.’
  • ‘He said: "Obviously, the repeated vandalism of the statue is of great concern and hopefully the mindless hooligans responsible will be caught."’

  Synonyms

  hoodlum, thug, lout, delinquent, tearaway, vandal, ruffian, rowdy, troublemaker

  View synonyms