as in gangs
a group involved in secret or criminal activities
the local Mafia largely finances itself through extortion rackets and drug trafficking
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for Mafias
Noun
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All five are barred from contact with motorcycle gangs and from attending future motorcycle events, including Ocean City BikeFest.—
Josh Davis,
Baltimore Sun,
11 May 2026 -
According to court documents, a cellphone video showed members of two gangs in the Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot.—
Shannon Tyler,
Idaho Statesman,
11 May 2026
Noun
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Criminal syndicates The consequences extend far beyond South America.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
13 May 2026
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For one, the Madlanga Commission — set up to investigate whether criminal syndicates and political actors have burrowed into the police, intelligence, and prosecutorial services — is due to submit its interim report at the end of May.—
Tiisetso Motsoeneng,
semafor.com,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Wallace is particularly troubled by how quickly hantavirus was incorporated into the COVID-era health conspiracies and the distrust in public health authorities that still thrive in certain online ecosystems.—
Allison Parshall,
Scientific American,
15 May 2026
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In Russia, indulging in such conspiracies is often less an exercise in political prediction than an expression of deeper anxieties that can be otherwise hard to express.—
Joshua Yaffa,
New Yorker,
8 May 2026
Noun
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Families are assembling adjacent estates over time, creating compounds designed to remain within clans for generations.—
Natalie Hoberman,
Forbes.com,
16 May 2026
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However, the ruthless King Saran (Oscar nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor) has suppressed magic users and enacts a rule of terror, which Zelie hopes to end in order to reunite Orisha’s clans.—
Jordan Moreau,
Variety,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Gutfeld, however, has the major advantage of airing in the earlier primetime window, where more viewers are simply awake and tuning in across all networks.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
13 May 2026
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Built from complex networks of sometimes more than 100 different types of neurons, retinal tissue consumes two to three times more energy than the same mass of typical brain tissue.—
Yasemin Saplakoglu,
Quanta Magazine,
13 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Mafias.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Mafias. Accessed 19 May. 2026.
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