Synonyms of gangster

gangster

noun

ˈgaŋ-stər 

as in thug

a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang

Al Capone remains one of the most notorious gangsters in American history

Synonyms & Similar Words

• thug
• criminal
• villain
• bandit
• assassin
• mobster
• pirate
• hoodlum
• thief
• gangsta
• offender
• hood
• tough
• gorilla
• hooligan
• ruffian
• gangbanger
• bully
• goon
• punk
• roughneck
• rowdy
• yob
• yobbo
• perpetrator
• plug-ugly
• toughie
• mafioso
• robber
• scoundrel
• outlaw
• cutthroat
• racketeer
• brigand
• felon
• crook
• mug
• desperado
• highwayman
• lawbreaker
• swindler
• perp
• pickpocket
• gunman
• malefactor
• vandal
• juvenile delinquent
• bravo
• tearaway

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of gangster

Especially when the protagonists are fighting gangsters, offensive editors, twitchy Vatican librarians, and an oversized Jason Momoa, to claim the hand of Gal Gadot’s two characters, one in the present, one in the past. — A.d. Amorosi, SPIN, 6 Aug. 2026

Badly in Love manages to break through because the cast of men and women looking for true love are from the Japanese yankii subculture—juvenile delinquents, motorcycle gangsters, troubled women, and more. — K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 31 July 2026

Clayface stars Tom Rhys Harries (White Lines, Suspicion) as Matt Hagen, a promising actor in Gotham City who’s left mutilated by a mob boss for sleeping with the gangster’s girlfriend. — Nick Romano, Entertainment Weekly, 21 July 2026

Remember all those fake memoirs from the early 2000s, by all those writers pretending to be addicts and gangsters and Holocaust survivors? — James Parker, The Atlantic, 20 July 2026