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
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
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
Its companions are four Russian mobsters — stragglers from the previous season — laying on their stomachs with their necks outstretched over the rail.
—Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
In the Brooklyn prosecution, the Mafia played a major role in the high-end poker games, with mobsters posing as ordinary players at the tables and providing the muscle to collect debts, prosecutors said.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 14 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
Its companions are four Russian mobsters — stragglers from the previous season — laying on their stomachs with their necks outstretched over the rail.
—Demetrius Patterson, HollywoodReporter, 27 Oct. 2025
In the Brooklyn prosecution, the Mafia played a major role in the high-end poker games, with mobsters posing as ordinary players at the tables and providing the muscle to collect debts, prosecutors said.
—Preston Fore, Fortune, 25 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mobsters
Noun
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The new Homeland Security person needs to unmask the thugs causing harm to families and innocent children.—
Sun Sentinel Editorial Board,
Sun Sentinel,
15 Mar. 2026
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The centerpiece is, of course, the melee/dance-off between the ensemble in white tutus and the violent thugs, toe blade and all.—
Lé Baltar,
IndieWire,
14 Mar. 2026
Noun
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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
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In the movie’s fuzzy metaphysics, Shelley wills herself into the consciousness of a character named Ida (also played by Buckley), a young woman angling for survival in 1930s Chicago — a colorful, dangerous world of bawdy lotharios and lethal gangsters.—
Peter Tonguette,
The Washington Examiner,
13 Mar. 2026
Noun
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Many people copy cryptocurrency wallet addresses before sending digital currency, and those addresses can be valuable to criminals.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
21 Mar. 2026
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, chair of the council, said Monday that immigrants who aren’t criminals should be able to stay in the country, under certain conditions.—
Ana Goñi-Lessan,
Miami Herald,
20 Mar. 2026
Noun
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The movie does attempt to gesture at class and race as thematic underpinnings (the maids trapped in The Virgil are mostly non-white, while the villains are rich Caucasians), but like the story and action at large, these go pretty much nowhere, and feel like obligatory symbols.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
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Jack Balderrama Morley examines the beautiful, terrible, villains of reality television.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
18 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
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Doorbell cameras catch porch pirates.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
18 Mar. 2026
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Where the Story Is Heading Season 2 ended with the Straw Hat pirates realizing the scale of Baroque Works and setting course for Arabasta Island.—
Hanna Wickes,
Charlotte Observer,
17 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mobsters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mobsters. Accessed 22 Mar. 2026.
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