thug vs bully

thug and bully both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
thug	Yes	No	Yes	No
bully	Yes	Yes	Yes	No

As nouns, bully is a hyponym of thug; that is, bully is a word with a more specific, narrower meaning than thug:

thug (noun)	bully (noun)
an aggressive and violent young criminal	a cruel and brutal fellow
	a hired thug

thug (adjective)	bully (adjective)
	excellent

thug (verb)	bully (verb)
Acting like a criminal or antisocially but with positive connotations	discourage or frighten with threats or a domineering manner; intimidate
	be bossy towards