hooligan

hooligan — noun

1. a person, often a young man in a group, who behaves violently in public by fight

1.nounB2
Definition

a person, often a young man in a group, who behaves violently in public by fighting or damaging property

Example

A group of hooligans threw bottles at the police outside the stadium.

collocation: group of hooligans

The court ordered three known hooligans to stay away from all football games.

pattern: ban/order [sb] from [event]

Common collocations
  • football hooligan
  • group of hooligans
  • known hooligans
  • hooligan behaviour
  • hooligan violence
  • arrest hooligans
  • ban hooligans
Synonyms
  • thug

    more serious — implies a career criminal who uses violence, often for money

  • ruffian

    old-fashioned — a rough, violent person, rarely used in modern speech

  • delinquent

    focuses on young people who break the law, not necessarily with public violence

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

hooligan + verb

hooligan + of + noun

Usage Note

Most commonly used in British English in the context of football (soccer), often in the plural form referring to groups. The adjective form 'hooligan' (e.g., hooligan behaviour) is also common.

Common Mistakes

The man who stole my wallet is a hooligan.
The men who smashed the shop windows are hooligans.
Hooligan refers specifically to public violent behaviour and damage, not to theft or other crimes.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe people who cause trouble, but they differ in emphasis. A hooligan is defined by public violence and disorder, often in groups and linked to sports events. A thug is a more serious criminal who uses violence as a tool, sometimes for hire — a hired thug. Ruffian is an old-fashioned word for a rough, violent man, rarely heard in everyday speech today. Delinquent usually refers to a young person who commits minor crimes (vandalism, theft) but not necessarily violent public disorder. Hoodlum, more common in American English, is close to hooligan but can also imply involvement in organised crime. For example, you would call someone who starts a street fight after a match a hooligan; if the same person works for a crime gang, they become a hoodlum or thug.

thugruffiandelinquenthoodlum

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • hooligan behaviour
  • hooligan violence
  • hooligan gang
  • hooligan element

Prepositions

  • hooligan from
  • hooligan at

Etymology

IrishEnglish

The word hooligan first appeared in London in the 1890s, likely from the surname Houlihan in a popular music-hall song about a rowdy Irish family. The name became a label for young men who caused trouble in the streets, and by the early 1900s it was widely used for violent public troublemakers.