thug vs toughie

thug and toughie both are nouns.

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

As nouns, thug and toughie are synonyms defined as:

Other synonyms of thug include goon, hood, hoodlum, punk, strong-armer, tough.

thug (noun)	toughie (noun)
an aggressive and violent young criminal	a particularly difficult or baffling question or problem
	an aggressive and violent young criminal

thug (verb)	toughie (verb)
Acting like a criminal or antisocially but with positive connotations