as in thugs
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
the argument that the DEA needs to focus more on the kingpins of the drug trade and less on the gangbangers in the street
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of gangbangers
The video, which was played for Lefkow on Tuesday, showed an unidentified man standing out at 26th Street and Spauling Avenue asking where all the gangbangers were.
—
Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
Murdered within about six months of each other at the height of their fame in the 1990s, their deaths spawned conspiracy theories of hitmen, coverups and cops on gangbangers’ payrolls.
—Veronica Bravo, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2025
This is quite the new phenomenon for all the gangbangers, fentanyl dealers, girlfriend-beaters, drunk drivers and pedophiles — going to church.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 17 Aug. 2025
Jason Meisner, Chicago Tribune, 20 Jan. 2026
Murdered within about six months of each other at the height of their fame in the 1990s, their deaths spawned conspiracy theories of hitmen, coverups and cops on gangbangers’ payrolls.
—Veronica Bravo, USA Today, 7 Sep. 2025
This is quite the new phenomenon for all the gangbangers, fentanyl dealers, girlfriend-beaters, drunk drivers and pedophiles — going to church.
—Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 17 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gangbangers
Noun
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In a season 3 teaser, Peter saves Suraj Sharma's Jay Batra from some thugs at a soccer stadium.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
19 Feb. 2026
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Foucauld had later left the army to become a Trappist monk and had established himself as a missionary in Tamanrasset, Algeria, in the middle of the Sahara Desert; he was killed there by local thugs in 1916.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Thanks to the One Big Beautiful Bill, ICE has new funding to expand detention space to keep these criminals off American streets before they are removed for good from our communities.—
Jeff Capellini,
CBS News,
20 Feb. 2026
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His office is more concerned about arresting police officers than prosecuting criminals.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
20 Feb. 2026
Noun
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In retaliation, gangsters took to the streets to light vehicles and businesses on fire, carjack cars and buses, and cause mayhem across multiple states.—
Frederick Melo,
Twin Cities,
23 Feb. 2026
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Now, all Addison can tell us is that the show begins with two young Dubliners who are looking for treasure and are on the run from gangsters.—
Max Goldbart,
Deadline,
22 Feb. 2026
Noun
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The bandits are those who help themselves and cause others a loss.—
Jonny Thomson,
Big Think,
11 Feb. 2026
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The West African nation has been fighting an insurgency for more than a decade, with Boko Haram and its splinter group, the Islamic State of West Africa Province, in addition to several amorphous groups commonly referred to as bandits.—
Pelumi Salako,
Los Angeles Times,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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Even the Dodgers, the cartoon villains of spending, kind of sort of have a limit.—
Dieter Kurtenbach,
Mercury News,
18 Feb. 2026
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Head coach Patty Gasso and her bunch remain the biggest villains in the Texas softball universe.—
Thomas Jones,
Austin American Statesman,
6 Feb. 2026
Noun
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After diplomatic negotiations, the Iranian state called off its assassins in 1998.—
Anderson Cooper,
CBS News,
9 Feb. 2026
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One week later, on May 15, assassins forced Valdez, 50, from his car at midday and shot him at least a dozen times in downtown Culiacán, the capital of Sinaloa state.—
Foreign Correspondent,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gangbangers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gangbangers. Accessed 26 Feb. 2026.
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