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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.
Examples of gangster in a Sentence
Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 2 Aug. 2025
That audio clip has been shared some 60,000 times on TikTok, often by Venezuelans ridiculing the notion that everybody from their country is a gangster.
—ProPublica, 23 July 2025
The executives eventually relented, and Fast Times did well enough at the box office that Heckerling got to make two more films in quick succession: 1984’s gangster spoof Johnny Dangerously, which didn’t make money, and 1985’s National Lampoon’s European Vacation, which did.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 18 July 2025
After two of its wealthiest businessmen, Edward Bremer and William Hamm Jr., were kidnapped for ransom by gun-toting gangsters, the city’s embarrassed mayor impaneled a grand jury to investigate whether Minnesota’s capital had a crime problem.
—Nick Woltman, Twin Cities, 28 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for gangster
Cite this Entry
“Gangster.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gangster. Accessed 21 Aug. 2025.
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