underboss

noun

un·​der·​boss ˈən-dər-ˌbȯs How to pronounce underboss (audio)
: a boss ranking next below the head of a branch of a crime syndicate

Examples of underboss in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web By the end of the episode, back in the present day, Sofia calmly waits until her family is asleep in the Carmine mansion, and then pipes carbon monoxide throughout the house, gassing them all to death — save her young niece and the Falcone underboss, Johnny Viti (Michael Kelly). Adam B. Vary, Variety, 14 Oct. 2024 Listen to this article An elderly mafia underboss charged in a union extortion scheme caught a break because of his age when a Brooklyn judge sentenced him to 15 months in prison Monday. John Annese, New York Daily News, 22 Jan. 2024 The head of the party is the don, and below him sit the underbosses, or the Standing Committee. Cai Xia, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022 Twenty minutes earlier, at 5 p.m., Arai had shot to death his underboss, Hideyuki Eiri, aged 54, at the gang office and then driven back to his palatial house. Jake Adelstein, Rolling Stone, 17 Oct. 2023 Franzese grew up as the son of the underboss of New York’s Colombo crime family and by his mid-30s became one of the biggest mafia bosses, ranking No. 18 in Fortune magazine’s list of the 50 most wealthy and powerful Mafia bosses in America in the mid-1980s. Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 16 June 2023 Baldwin's Senate testimony chronicled the numerous plans to kill a Team A underboss with explosives. Ray Sanchez, CNN, 9 Apr. 2022 In April 1978, Team B finally succeeded in killing the underboss with a bomb that exploded under his car. Ray Sanchez, CNN, 9 Apr. 2022 On Columbus Day in 1970, a Rochester mob underboss ordered that a series of dynamite bombs be set off in the early morning hours in houses of worship and government buildings. Ray Sanchez, CNN, 9 Apr. 2022

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'underboss.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1942, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of underboss was in 1942

Dictionary Entries Near underboss

Cite this Entry

“Underboss.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/underboss. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on underboss

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!