as in thugs
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
the mobster threatened to break his legs if he didn't pay up
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Recent Examples of mobsters
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
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
In the 1970s, during the FBI’s crackdown on mobsters, organized crime dominated the list.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Mar. 2026
The mobsters turned the van around, pulled off the highway and dumped Gasso in a patch of poison ivy along the Connecticut River in Wethersfield.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 12 Feb. 2026
Police officials at a news conference said the officers had collected personal and private information unlawfully and distributed it to organized crime figures, in some cases for bribes, and that mobsters then carried out shootings and other violent crimes.
—Arkansas Online, 6 Feb. 2026
From Sweet Sue’s big opening song to the train ride west to hopping over the border to Mexico and back, the characters have to navigate love, life, and high heels while mobsters and feds surround them.
—Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 20 Jan. 2026
There was also a lot of speculation that Ruby was involved with organized crime, as he was known to be friends with mobsters, mafia members and other members of the criminal underworld.
—Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 24 Nov. 2025
There, surrounded by mobsters, the future moviemaker embraced Catholicism and the Italian code of omertà.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025
Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 27 Mar. 2026
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
In the 1970s, during the FBI’s crackdown on mobsters, organized crime dominated the list.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 12 Mar. 2026
The mobsters turned the van around, pulled off the highway and dumped Gasso in a patch of poison ivy along the Connecticut River in Wethersfield.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 12 Feb. 2026
Police officials at a news conference said the officers had collected personal and private information unlawfully and distributed it to organized crime figures, in some cases for bribes, and that mobsters then carried out shootings and other violent crimes.
—Arkansas Online, 6 Feb. 2026
From Sweet Sue’s big opening song to the train ride west to hopping over the border to Mexico and back, the characters have to navigate love, life, and high heels while mobsters and feds surround them.
—Jed Gottlieb, Boston Herald, 20 Jan. 2026
There was also a lot of speculation that Ruby was involved with organized crime, as he was known to be friends with mobsters, mafia members and other members of the criminal underworld.
—Skyler Trepel, PEOPLE, 24 Nov. 2025
There, surrounded by mobsters, the future moviemaker embraced Catholicism and the Italian code of omertà.
—Graham Hillard, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mobsters
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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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,
31 Mar. 2026
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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
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
-
But CFCs, the solution to an earlier problem, turned out to be villains in disguise.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
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These measures are politically popular and ultra-wealthy Big Tech chiefs are easy villains.—
Catherine Thorbecke,
Twin Cities,
28 Mar. 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
-
Tim Brinkhof The Past Julius Caesar was once captured by pirates.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
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Themed weeks include Harry Potter, Star Wars and pirates.—
Jessie Dax-Setkus,
Oc Register,
22 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mobsters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mobsters. Accessed 6 Apr. 2026.
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