as in gangsters
a person who gets money from another by using force or threats
the racketeer threatened to have his thugs vandalize the shop if the shopkeeper didn't pay him a monthly bribe
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Recent Examples of racketeers
Nick Pinkerton, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Noun
When Ferrara was starting out, private investment in low-budget films was spurred by tax loopholes, a way for doctors, dentists, and racketeers to get rid of extra cash that would otherwise wind up in Uncle Sam’s grubby mitts.
—Nick Pinkerton, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racketeers
Noun
-
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,
JSTOR Daily,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
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
-
Their neighbor, an older Jewish woman, gets arrested and Nazi thugs brazenly loot her apartment.—
Rabih Alameddine
September 2,
Literary Hub,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Shay blackmails him, triggering a father-son feud.—
Jesse Whittock,
Deadline,
8 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Despite paying off blackmailers and marrying Lady Olivia Hedges (Danielle Galligan) to protect his secret, Arthur still loses his father’s Parliament seat after getting caught committing election fraud.—
Lynsey Eidell,
PEOPLE,
27 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But André, who Bonitzer has named after the early surrealist André-Aimé-René Masson, soon confronts our man with a situation that — at least on some distant subconscious level — forces him to re-evaluate his metrics.—
David Ehrlich,
IndieWire,
29 Oct. 2025
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This structural gap seriously limits access to highly specialized medical care and forces many countries to rely on training centers abroad, creating imbalances in both quality and equity.—
Dr. Victor Raúl Castillo Mantilla,
MSNBC Newsweek,
29 Oct. 2025
Noun
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These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyse corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate sabotage.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
20 Sep. 2025
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These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyze corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate digital sabotage.—
Reuters,
CNN Money,
20 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Underparenting resonates with more parents today, especially in a society that pressures them to be actively engaged with every step their child takes.—
Alex Vance,
Parents,
21 Oct. 2025
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The defense has been top five against the run and pressures quarterbacks at a higher rate than any team but the Broncos.—
J.J. Bailey,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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While China often threatens and coerces other countries, such as in disputes with South Korea and Australia, its actions are often triggered by events that China feels directly threaten its core interests.—
David C. Kang,
Foreign Affairs,
19 Sep. 2025
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Compulsory heterosexuality is a theoretical framework coined by lesbian scholar Adrienne Rich in 1980 to describe how heterosexuality as an institution compels and coerces female sexuality for patriarchal purposes.—
Quispe López,
Them.,
27 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Racketeers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racketeers. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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