thug vs outlaw

thug and outlaw both are nouns.

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

As nouns, outlaw is a hypernym of thug; that is, outlaw is a word with a broader meaning than thug:

thug: an aggressive and violent young criminal
outlaw: someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime

Other hypernyms of thug include criminal, crook, felon, malefactor.

thug (noun)	outlaw (noun)
an aggressive and violent young criminal	someone who has committed a crime or has been legally convicted of a crime

thug (adjective)	outlaw (adjective)
	contrary to or forbidden by law
	disobedient to or defiant of law

thug (verb)	outlaw (verb)
Acting like a criminal or antisocially but with positive connotations	declare illegal; outlaw