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
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racketeers
Noun
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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
Noun
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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
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As night falls, armed thugs roam the streets and families pick up guns to protect themselves.—
Oren Liebermann,
CNN Money,
24 Aug. 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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And maybe, just maybe, forces Hamas to surrender in Gaza.—
Dan Perry,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
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Written by Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing, the indie is set in the near future, where a retired soldier’s isolated existence is shattered when a runaway female android seeks refuge on his farm, sparking an unexpected bond that forces them to fight for their survival and for each other.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 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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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
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The great hope of the Gulf Arabs is that Trump understands this and finally pressures Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire agreement, returning the region to something approaching calm.—
Monica Marks,
Time,
19 Sep. 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
Verb
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Seattle fans can already envision a future where a one-loss Seahawks team wrests control of the division away from Los Angeles in early November, but Tampa Bay has to be the first domino to fall.—
J.J. Bailey,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Racketeers.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racketeers. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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