as in thugs
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
Al Capone remains one of the most notorious gangsters in American history
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Recent Examples of gangsters
They get captured by Hungarian gangsters and have to fight (and kill) their way out of an inn run by a shady former dance prodigy (Uma Thurman).
—
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
Once housing notorious gangsters such as Al Capone, the notorious Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed its doors to prisoners in 1963, since becoming a museum.
—Zach Halaschak, The Washington Examiner, 3 Apr. 2026
Prosecutors used details from the home takeover to argue for a lengthy prison term, describing how Serrano and other gangsters took advantage of an 84-year-old woman who had dementia.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026
American gangsters ran the hotels and the gambling.
—Joseph J. Gonzalez, The Conversation, 23 Mar. 2026
Kelly spends the first half of his book running through a who’s who of the New England underworld, gangsters and mob wannabes who likely came into contact with the art before the investigation reached Maine and Gentile.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 22 Mar. 2026
Set in the Mississippi Delta during the early 1930s, the film follows Smoke and Stack, twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown after years spent working for Chicago gangsters, hoping to start fresh and leave their violent past behind.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 15 Mar. 2026
All of this follows a long tradition in filmmaking that extends back to early Soviet films through Italian neorealist projects through Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, which featured some real gangsters.
—Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 12 Mar. 2026
Together, the grimy pair start riding the rails across the country, watching movies starring Frank’s favorite actor, Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), and somehow sparking a feminist plot to overthrow the kinds of mean gangsters who killed Ida in the first place.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2026
Brian Truitt, USA Today, 4 Apr. 2026
Once housing notorious gangsters such as Al Capone, the notorious Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary closed its doors to prisoners in 1963, since becoming a museum.
—Zach Halaschak, The Washington Examiner, 3 Apr. 2026
Prosecutors used details from the home takeover to argue for a lengthy prison term, describing how Serrano and other gangsters took advantage of an 84-year-old woman who had dementia.
—Nate Gartrell, Mercury News, 26 Mar. 2026
American gangsters ran the hotels and the gambling.
—Joseph J. Gonzalez, The Conversation, 23 Mar. 2026
Kelly spends the first half of his book running through a who’s who of the New England underworld, gangsters and mob wannabes who likely came into contact with the art before the investigation reached Maine and Gentile.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 22 Mar. 2026
Set in the Mississippi Delta during the early 1930s, the film follows Smoke and Stack, twin brothers (both played by Jordan) who return to their hometown after years spent working for Chicago gangsters, hoping to start fresh and leave their violent past behind.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 15 Mar. 2026
All of this follows a long tradition in filmmaking that extends back to early Soviet films through Italian neorealist projects through Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, which featured some real gangsters.
—Katie Kilkenny, HollywoodReporter, 12 Mar. 2026
Together, the grimy pair start riding the rails across the country, watching movies starring Frank’s favorite actor, Ronnie Reed (Jake Gyllenhaal), and somehow sparking a feminist plot to overthrow the kinds of mean gangsters who killed Ida in the first place.
—David Sims, The Atlantic, 6 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gangsters
Noun
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The thugs would insinuate themselves into the confidence of wayfarers and, when a favorable opportunity presented itself, strangle them by throwing a handkerchief or noose around their necks.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
31 Mar. 2026
-
No government masked thugs shooting down our neighbors in the streets.—
Diego Parrado,
Vanity Fair,
29 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Göring, played by Russell Crowe, is the troubling centerpiece of James Vanderbilt’s ambitious film devoted to the trial of the major Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg in 1945–1946.—
Alice Kaplan,
The New York Review of Books,
4 Apr. 2026
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Also included is a 13% increase in funding for the Department of Justice to focus on violent criminals and a $481 million increase in funding to enhance aviation safety and support an air traffic controller hiring surge.—
LISA MASCARO,
Arkansas Online,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Design There’s a reason James Bond villains chase 007’s Aston Martin in fleets of black Defenders.—
John Scott Lewinski,
Robb Report,
8 Apr. 2026
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In the two-parter, which airs April 14 (8PM – 10 PM), the series’ central character, Amy (Molly Parker) will risk her life for one of the series’ main villains, Richard (Scott Wolf), who had killed a patient, tried to cover it up and blamed it on Amy, almost ending her career.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
7 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Set against mountainous landscapes and rural lakes, the story follows a wandering swordsman who is falsely accused of stealing a shipment of gold and must unravel a web of intrigue involving bandits, palace guards and corrupt officials while attempting to clear his name.—
Lin Ying-Hsuan,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
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Alongside attacks by bandits, Nigeria is also plagued by an insurgency fought by the Boko Haram extremist group and its splinter faction, the Islamic State West Africa Province.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
17 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Mirrors were such a precious commodity in the heyday of the Venetian Republic that the assassins were dispatched to, well, dispatch any defectors who left La Serenissima and tried to take the secrets of creating that mesmerizing, reflective surface along with them.—
Mark Ellwood,
Robb Report,
17 Mar. 2026
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Consider Bobbi, one of the assassins sent north to find Armando.—
Michael Snyder,
The Atlantic,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Rather than prohibiting unlicensed copies, the patent became, combined with the rise of the internet, a blueprint for pirates.—
Simon Akam,
Vanity Fair,
2 Apr. 2026
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The Vikings were raiders, pirates, traders, explorers, and colonizers who traveled far beyond their homeland in Scandinavia between the 9th and 11 centuries.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The film will chart the pursuit and capture of one of America’s most ruthless mobsters and serial killers by notorious DEA Agent Jim Hunt (who also helped take down El Chapo) played by Paul Walter Hauser (Black Bird).—
Andreas Wiseman,
Deadline,
27 Mar. 2026
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This leads to a chaotic rigmarole in which, bit by bit, the Hungarian mobsters stream downstairs to either take advantage of the girls or do away with them, forcing them to rely on their discipline and athletic training to mount a response.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
14 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Gangsters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gangsters. Accessed 11 Apr. 2026.
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