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What is the history of the word gangster?
Gangster came into the English language at the latter portion of the 19th century, as one of what is now a large parcel of words which have been formed by adding the noun combining form –ster to an existing word. The ending -ster has a number of possible meanings (“one that does, handles, or operates,” “one that makes or uses,” “one that is associated with or participates in,” “one that is”), and one of its interesting elements is that it has, in many cases, shifted its gender. This second portion of gangster comes from the Old English -estre, meaning “female agent.” The word tapster ("a bartender"), for instance, was tæppestre in Old English, and designated a barmaid, or female tapster. In modern use the addition of -ster may often be found in a gender-neutral sense, as with hipster, or with implications of masculinity, as with gangster and mobster, through prevalence of usage.
Synonyms
Examples of gangster in a Sentence
David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 11 Apr. 2024
In a federal trial that unfolded in downtown L.A. this month, prosecutors painted Cho, 39, as a gangster who for years extorted monthly protection fees from karaoke bar owners and doumi drivers, many of whom were in the country illegally and did not speak English fluently.
—Brittny Mejia, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2024
Farrell gives a classic gangster monologue throughout the trailer, which slowly ramps up the violence and gunfights in Gotham City’s seedy underground.
—Caroline Brew, Variety, 22 Mar. 2024
Officers responding to shooting scenes were recovering more casings, despite the fact that machine guns have been banned at the federal and state level in some form since the 1930s, in the days of Tommy-gun-toting Chicago gangsters like Al Capone and John Dillinger.
—Kim Bellware, Washington Post, 21 Mar. 2024
The Strip had been known for casino and entertainment resorts since the 1940s, when gangster Bugsy Siegel helped open the Flamingo resort.
—Michael Salerno, The Arizona Republic, 3 Apr. 2024
The three books are a gangster retelling of some of the foundational texts for literature: The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Oresteia cycle.
—Sean Woods, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2024
Among them was Sandro Moraes de Carvalho—a gangster known as Presidente, the P.C.C.’s commander in the area.
—Jon Lee Anderson, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2024
In the film, Rossellini plays Dorothy Vallens, who is raped and abused by gangster Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper), who has also kidnapped her husband, Don, and son, Donnie.
—Tatiana Tenreyro, The Hollywood Reporter, 28 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gangster.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near gangster
Cite this Entry
“Gangster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gangster. Accessed 23 Apr. 2024.
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