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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gangster
They get captured by Hungarian gangsters and have to fight (and kill) their way out of an inn run by a shady former dance prodigy (Uma Thurman).
—
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
One of Sharma's gangster associates tells Keefe that once Sharma realized he'd been conned, there was no way Zac was leaving the apartment alive.
—Frank Langfitt, NPR, 4 Apr. 2026
Once housing notorious gangsters such as Al Capone, the notorious Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed its doors to prisoners in 1963, since becoming a museum.
—Zach Halaschak, The Washington Examiner, 3 Apr. 2026
Grabinski’s second directorial effort follows Mike (James Marsden) and Nick (Vince Vaughn), partners for a gangster organization, in what starts as a buddy comedy.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 2 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gangster
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
One of Sharma's gangster associates tells Keefe that once Sharma realized he'd been conned, there was no way Zac was leaving the apartment alive.
—Frank Langfitt, NPR, 4 Apr. 2026
Once housing notorious gangsters such as Al Capone, the notorious Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed its doors to prisoners in 1963, since becoming a museum.
—Zach Halaschak, The Washington Examiner, 3 Apr. 2026
Grabinski’s second directorial effort follows Mike (James Marsden) and Nick (Vince Vaughn), partners for a gangster organization, in what starts as a buddy comedy.
—Sarah Shachat, IndieWire, 2 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gangster
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gangster
Noun
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Pinell’s second film after Kiss and Cry, Shana stars her regular collaborator Éva Huault as a woman in her thirties navigating dead-end jobs, drug deals and an impossible relationship with a toxic thug, Moïse.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
14 Apr. 2026
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Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the religious gestapo thugs who ran the country were not only committed in the name of Allah to destroying Israel, the Little Satan, and the United States, the Big Satan, but western civilization as well.—
Peter Lucas,
Boston Herald,
13 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The scheme is designed to identify suspected criminals, combat identity fraud, and to police the EU's limit on 90-day stays within a 180-day period, according to the European Commission.—
Emma Clarke,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Apr. 2026
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Rex Heuermann, the man known as the Gilgo Beach killer, admitted to killing eight women over a span of decades, and the FBI is now looking into what motivated the 62-year-old to carry out his crimes to help capture other criminals in the future.—
Matt Lavietes,
NBC news,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Like a cartoon villain, though, Paula kicks up the edge of the carpet, which causes poor Miriam to make a dog’s dinner of afternoon tea.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
15 Apr. 2026
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Nemesis achieves a lot, introducing a dangerous new villain that even the mighty Asgard fear, while ramping up the tension for a suitably dramatic season finale.—
Daryl Baxter,
Space.com,
14 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Williams hadn’t qualified but jumped in as a bandit – a practice that is prohibited now but happened more regularly back then (although it was frowned upon).—
Lori Riley,
Hartford Courant,
19 Apr. 2026
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An unusual theft at a Pennsylvania Wawa has police going bananas for a pair of potassium bandits.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
8 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Their efforts lead them in the season’s last two episodes to Paris, where Frank was planning to celebrate his 80th birthday with his children — only for him to be gunned down in a hotel lobby by an assassin who had been sent to kill Teddy for a deal gone wrong.—
Max Gao,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2026
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Neither of these two is necessarily a lip-sync assassin.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In Big Mistakes, Levy and Taylor Ortega play siblings who shoplift a necklace from a jewelry store to give to their grandmother on her deathbed, only to be blackmailed by the mobsters that run the place into a series of increasingly stupid and dangerous errands.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
3 Apr. 2026
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Industry associates whispered to Vanity Fair in 1996 about Mottola adopting shady mobster tactics in his running of Sony, demanding loyalty and allegedly keeping a gun in his briefcase.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
2 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gangster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gangster. Accessed 23 Apr. 2026.
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