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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Violence perpetrated by gangs resulted in at least 1,424 people killed and 790 injured; operations against gangs led by security forces, meanwhile, caused at least 3,497 deaths and 1,742 injuries; attacks against gangs by self-defense groups have caused at least 598 deaths and 76 injuries.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
24 Mar. 2026 -
He was set to be imprisoned at the Salvadoran mega-prison CECOT, despite a judge's 2019 order that blocked his deportation there on the grounds that he could be harmed by local gangs.—
Emily Mae Czachor,
CBS News,
22 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The sequel to Dhurandhar, which was the highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time in North America at $20 million last year, stars Ranveer Singh as an undercover Indian intelligence agent working to infiltrate Karachi’s criminal syndicates and Pakistani politics.—
Jill Goldsmith,
Deadline,
20 Mar. 2026
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The mining gangs are often armed and violent in protecting their territory and are controlled by criminal syndicates, authorities say.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
16 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Voter fraud conspiracies are like methamphetamine running through MAGA veins, stirring up equal parts passion and paranoia.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Mar. 2026
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The drumbeat of Christian war imagery has ignited dangerous conspiracies about Jews, such as Tucker Carlson’s contention that the Chabad-Lubavitch sect of Judaism secretly started the war.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
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For almost as long, these two clans have also been intimate friends (and relations) of the Pelosi family.—
James Reginato,
Vanity Fair,
5 Mar. 2026
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Salvation takes place in a mountainous region of Turkey where two Kurdish clans have grown up in constant distrust of each other.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
26 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Efforts to enable reversible, two-way actuation have led to the development of systems such as semi-crystalline networks and liquid crystalline elastomers, which depend on structural alignment under applied stress.—
Jijo Malayil,
Interesting Engineering,
26 Mar. 2026
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Tea brands and toy retailers have also grown their overseas networks.—
Tom Chivers,
semafor.com,
25 Mar. 2026
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“Mafias.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/Mafias. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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