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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of mobsters
The indictment presents a detailed and devastating narrative of how, for years, officials in Sinaloa have allegedly worked hand in hand with mobsters, enriching themselves and allowing the gang to operate with seeming impunity.
—
Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
But the Shedd outlasted the mobsters and Lord knows what else in its home city’s colorful history and now is trying to raise $500 million over eight years in honor of its pending 100th anniversary in 2030.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Local Minneapolis prosecutors had invoked the law to suppress a sensational, anti-Semitic tabloid, The Saturday Press, which had been relentlessly attacking city officials as corrupt and in league with Jewish mobsters.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Apr. 2026
In Big Mistakes, Levy and Taylor Ortega play siblings who shoplift a necklace from a jewelry store to give to their grandmother on her deathbed, only to be blackmailed by the mobsters that run the place into a series of increasingly stupid and dangerous errands.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 3 Apr. 2026
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
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
Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 29 Apr. 2026
But the Shedd outlasted the mobsters and Lord knows what else in its home city’s colorful history and now is trying to raise $500 million over eight years in honor of its pending 100th anniversary in 2030.
—The Editorial Board, Chicago Tribune, 29 Apr. 2026
Local Minneapolis prosecutors had invoked the law to suppress a sensational, anti-Semitic tabloid, The Saturday Press, which had been relentlessly attacking city officials as corrupt and in league with Jewish mobsters.
—Encyclopedia Britannica, 29 Apr. 2026
In Big Mistakes, Levy and Taylor Ortega play siblings who shoplift a necklace from a jewelry store to give to their grandmother on her deathbed, only to be blackmailed by the mobsters that run the place into a series of increasingly stupid and dangerous errands.
—K. Thor Jensen, PC Magazine, 3 Apr. 2026
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for mobsters
Noun
-
He’s beaten by thugs with a crowbar for an unfortunate outburst, exploited by neighbors in the council estate and arrested, all because people don’t understand Tourette syndrome.—
Katie Walsh,
Boston Herald,
24 Apr. 2026
-
Mayor vows to catch 'thugs who did this' Baton Rouge Mayor Sid Edwards promised that law enforcement will catch the people responsible for the violence at the mall.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Theater owners cut prices and dispensed prizes to ticket buyers as the gangsters effectively cross-pollinated with the studio dance numbers.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
-
Violent gangsters ran fentanyl and human smuggling over the Rio Grande.—
Ioan Grillo,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Lamont and other Democrats said the raises were well deserved because the state needs to recruit workers for difficult jobs that include prison guards dealing with dangerous criminals and social workers dealing with troubled families in the state Department of Children and Families.—
Christopher Keating,
Hartford Courant,
2 May 2026
-
And too often, these criminals stay one step ahead of law enforcement.—
Chris Spear,
New York Daily News,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
One person in Atlanta has appeared in his videos as Batman villains, for free, dressed in homemade costumes that look like they were ripped straight from the television or movies.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Apr. 2026
-
Her character joined several others who faced the wrath of Homelander and other villains.—
Staff Author,
PEOPLE,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The movie is understood to follow a sheriff and a doctor who seek revenge against a group of bandits who use the cover of a torrential thunderstorm to rob and terrorize the occupants of a small town.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
24 Apr. 2026
-
On Derby Day in 1923, four masked bandits raided the hotel poker room, escaping into the crowds with what would now amount to a small fortune.—
Hillary Richard,
Robb Report,
23 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Riquelme Vega, a Chilean Dutch cocaine importer also in the Super Cartel, wanted to murder a rival in Dubai by sending a team of Colombian assassins to the Emirates, Kinahan voiced his disapproval.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
-
Confronting her ends in violence, drawing Reacher into a web of secrets involving the Pentagon, political assassins and a powerful woman with ties to the military.—
Emily Blackwood,
PEOPLE,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Puntland official said nine pirates boarded and took control of the vessel.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
27 Apr. 2026
-
States that refused to negotiate or did not meet the obligations of the agreements are often branded as pirates and accused of supporting counterfeiting and theft.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
24 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Mobsters.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/mobsters. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
