as in gangster
a person who gets money from another by using force or threats
tortured by a gang of extortionists into revealing the combination for the money vault
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Recent Examples of extortionist
Several customers, a Miami-Dade judge and now the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services say Thompson’s a fraudulent, bait-and-switch extortionist.
—
David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
Nike depicts Total90 as an extortionist.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 2 Dec. 2025
The place is the Savin Bar + Kitchen, in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, where immediately inside the front door, patrons are greeted by a larger-than-life framed mugshot of Bulger — the mob-boss, murderer, bank robber, drug dealer and extortionist — peering cooly out from under his fedora.
—Tovia Smith, NPR, 24 Oct. 2025
Although the murderers are often characters with redeeming qualities, Nolan Hurst (David Cross) is more sympathetic than most, and his killing of toy store manager/part-time extortionist Patrick Palmer (Drew Seltzer) is an unpremeditated act of desperation, not the settling of a score.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyse corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate sabotage.
—Reuters, NBC news, 20 Sep. 2025
These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyze corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate digital sabotage.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2025
Combined with other high-tech attacks, such as deepfake phishing attempts, AI agents will create new and potentially highly problematic avenues of attack for hackers, fraudsters and extortionists.
—Bernard Marr, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
An agent approached Donna in Miami posing as an extortionist tied to the killers.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2025
David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 6 Feb. 2026
Nike depicts Total90 as an extortionist.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 2 Dec. 2025
The place is the Savin Bar + Kitchen, in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, where immediately inside the front door, patrons are greeted by a larger-than-life framed mugshot of Bulger — the mob-boss, murderer, bank robber, drug dealer and extortionist — peering cooly out from under his fedora.
—Tovia Smith, NPR, 24 Oct. 2025
Although the murderers are often characters with redeeming qualities, Nolan Hurst (David Cross) is more sympathetic than most, and his killing of toy store manager/part-time extortionist Patrick Palmer (Drew Seltzer) is an unpremeditated act of desperation, not the settling of a score.
—Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 17 Oct. 2025
These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyse corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate sabotage.
—Reuters, NBC news, 20 Sep. 2025
These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyze corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate digital sabotage.
—Reuters, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2025
Combined with other high-tech attacks, such as deepfake phishing attempts, AI agents will create new and potentially highly problematic avenues of attack for hackers, fraudsters and extortionists.
—Bernard Marr, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
An agent approached Donna in Miami posing as an extortionist tied to the killers.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extortionist
Noun
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Joe Cole, late of Peaky Blinders, plays Ethan, a former petty teen gangster from Las Vegas who has decamped to Los Angeles and made an honest man of himself.—
Richard Lawson,
HollywoodReporter,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Out March 27 on Hulu, the film, directed by BenDavid Grabinski, follows mobster Nick (Vaughn), who travels back in time so that Future Nick and Present Nick can save fellow gangster buddy Mike (James Marsden) from being murdered.—
Ethan Shanfeld,
Variety,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The new Homeland Security person needs to unmask the thugs causing harm to families and innocent children.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
15 Mar. 2026
-
The centerpiece is, of course, the melee/dance-off between the ensemble in white tutus and the violent thugs, toe blade and all.—
Lé Baltar,
IndieWire,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
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In Season 2, eager to take on another big undercover case, Charles Nieuwendyk (Danson) gets his chance when a mysterious blackmailer targets Wheeler College president Jack Berenger (Max Greenfield), who enlists Charles to go undercover as a professor.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
3 Feb. 2026
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Charles’ boss, Julie (Lilah Richcreek Estrada), takes the case, and given Charles’ background as a retired Cal State East Bay engineering professor, installs him as a visiting professor tasked with rooting out the blackmailer.—
G. Allen Johnson,
San Francisco Chronicle,
20 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The characters were based on a real family of bookmakers and racketeers who once lived in England.—
Sarah Moore,
Freep.com,
5 Mar. 2026
-
In September 2023, the group was charged with violation of the racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations act, commonly known as a RICO case.—
Irene Wright,
USA Today,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Extortionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extortionist. Accessed 27 Mar. 2026.
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