To be a true thug doesnt mean wearing "bling", listening to rap and talking "black". Being a gangsta isnt superficial.. To be a true thug means you havent had it good your whole life, and you intend to change that, and get out of the ghetto if thats where you are, you do whats right, you dont take shit from anyone, and stand up for your friends and dont let them take shit from anyone! You dont have to be a stereotypical "gangsta" to be a thug, a skater can be a thug, a nerd can be a thug, a hick can be a thug, a prep can be a thug, and old ass man can be a thug! So forget your stupid fucking stereotypes and thinking that everybody has to fit into one group, and be labeled. And i'll tell you what... Damn it feels good to be a gangster!

As Tupac defined it, a thug is someone who is going through struggles, has gone through struggles, and continues to live day by day with nothing for them. That person is a thug. and the life they are living is the thug life. A thug is NOT a gangster. Look up gangster and gangsta. Not even CLOSE, my friend.

simply put, to fuck. presumably hard.

Someone who had nothing, and was nothing, and became something.

Someone that can make something out of nothing.

-2Pac

a person who is a cholo, they might belong to 69th street and be a 69er, they are as thug as it gets. the word was invented to describe ricardo g. hes straight up gangster. a lot of people wanna be thugs but cnt, THUG LIFE

Originally a reference to a violent group/cult in India but etymologically anglicized to refer to a brutal criminal in general for most of the latter 19th and 20th century. The word was adopted/co-opted by the American Rap and Hip Hop music scene in the late 20th century generally defining a tough anti-hero with criminal involvement.

Recently the white conservative movement in the U.S.A. has adopted it as a substantive replacement for the vulgar and toxic term "nigger" which is no longer safe for use in most media channels.