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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Recent Examples of gangsters
McLusky, however, isn’t interested in meeting new gangsters or unknown criminals in his town.
—
Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
The other is about Chicago-style gangsters circa 1929.
—JSTOR Daily, 20 Oct. 2025
This person mapped out the constellation of gangsters at the ceremony, and provided a video of the event to American agents.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Two sisters with a tragic story are said to linger upstairs at Langston’s Western Wear, and unexplained voices and rattling glassware have been heard at Gabriella’s Italian Grill, a Prohibition-era building with a gangsters and gambling history.
—Beth Luberecki, USA Today, 11 Oct. 2025
In those times, young people who self-described as gangsters fought for territory, and one of their subversive acts was to tag the walls of the city with the verses of cumbia songs.
—Karla Gachet, NPR, 3 Oct. 2025
Now is the time to push back in defense of free speech – as strongly and as publicly as the gangsters on the left and right are threatening to revoke it.
—Onkar Ghate, Oc Register, 26 Sep. 2025
Unlike Mare, whose community was cloistered and intimate, Task builds a wider world of dealers, gangsters, and thieves, not always to its benefit.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2025
There’s also a tropical storm circulating, as if the gangsters flew in from the tropics.
—John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
The other is about Chicago-style gangsters circa 1929.
—JSTOR Daily, 20 Oct. 2025
This person mapped out the constellation of gangsters at the ceremony, and provided a video of the event to American agents.
—Ed Caesar, New Yorker, 20 Oct. 2025
Two sisters with a tragic story are said to linger upstairs at Langston’s Western Wear, and unexplained voices and rattling glassware have been heard at Gabriella’s Italian Grill, a Prohibition-era building with a gangsters and gambling history.
—Beth Luberecki, USA Today, 11 Oct. 2025
In those times, young people who self-described as gangsters fought for territory, and one of their subversive acts was to tag the walls of the city with the verses of cumbia songs.
—Karla Gachet, NPR, 3 Oct. 2025
Now is the time to push back in defense of free speech – as strongly and as publicly as the gangsters on the left and right are threatening to revoke it.
—Onkar Ghate, Oc Register, 26 Sep. 2025
Unlike Mare, whose community was cloistered and intimate, Task builds a wider world of dealers, gangsters, and thieves, not always to its benefit.
—Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 17 Sep. 2025
There’s also a tropical storm circulating, as if the gangsters flew in from the tropics.
—John Metcalfe, Mercury News, 12 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gangsters
Noun
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In The Big Lebowski, thugs mistake the titular slacker (Bridges) for the wealthy Jeffrey Lebowski, sending him on a wild investigation with his pal Walter (John Goodman) into a ransom plot involving Lebowski’s young wife (Tara Reid).—
Glenn Garner,
Deadline,
8 Oct. 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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To suggest that another candidate’s supporters are criminals — particularly when that candidate is, by all measures, poised to win at least a plurality of votes in the city — does not seem like a recipe for earning New Yorkers’ support.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Binance also lacked protocols — standard for financial services companies — to report transactions for money laundering risks, according to the Justice Department, and employees were well aware that such an oversight would invite criminals to the platform.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Yet if the Dodgers are to be cast as villains from the Book of Samuel, Toronto brought to the fight far more than pebbles.—
Andy McCullough,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
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For the 2017 Dress to Be Free Halloween Party at House of Yes in New York City, Cardi B went as one of Disney's most notorious villains.—
Catherine Santino,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The country has faced years of bloodshed from Boko Haram militants and armed bandits, whose motives are often linked more to territorial control and ransom than to religion.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
-
In classical antiquity, the mountainous region was notorious for bandits; in modern times, blood feuds among clans were rife.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
22 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Up until then, slashers were silent assassins or a breather.—
Raechal Shewfelt,
Entertainment Weekly,
1 Nov. 2025
-
The upcoming movie takes place in a near-future dystopia in which a man (Powell) must try to survive 30 days while being hunted by professional assassins — all while being filmed for a popular national television show.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
19 Oct. 2025
Noun
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After the pirates save Conomi Islands, the crew set sail on their next adventure, while a new bounty is placed on Luffy.—
Leia Mendoza,
Variety,
28 Oct. 2025
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In the Tatsuya Nagamine movie, Z is the name of an admiral who has sworn to destroy all the pirates of the New World, because of the pirates’ dream to have no leader, motivated only by their alliances that uphold the interests of every person and community.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
9 Oct. 2025
Noun
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There, surrounded by mobsters, the future moviemaker embraced Catholicism and the Italian code of omertà.—
Graham Hillard,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Oct. 2025
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Their investigation plunges them into the shadowy corners of New York and beyond — where the trio uncovers a dangerous web of secrets connecting powerful billionaires, old-school mobsters and the mysterious residents of the Arconia.—
Selome Hailu,
Variety,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gangsters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gangsters. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
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