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
An agent approached Donna in Miami posing as an extortionist tied to the killers.
—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2025
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 23 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extortionist
Noun
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The pic is a story about a gangster in modern-day Chicago, inspired by the repentance story of the fifth-century saint of the same name.—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
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That‘s led to an artist like Thug wanting to be perceived as a gangster more than a savvy businessman, even with a precarious 15-year probation over his head.—
Andre Gee,
Rolling Stone,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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We’re then introduced to Louie, a thug who works for a loan shark, threatening and killing people.—
Owen Gleiberman,
Variety,
3 Sep. 2025
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Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.—
Rabih Alameddine
September 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
Noun
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In a police photograph, Lansky stood next to racketeer Charles (Lucky) Luciano.—
Miami Herald Archives,
Miami Herald,
3 Apr. 2025
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In the other corner: Vito Genovese, Costello’s childhood friend and fellow racketeer, who had to leave town long ago because of a thing, and has now come home to resume his place in the Mafia hierarchy.—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
20 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Extortionist.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extortionist. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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