as in thug
a violent, brutal person who is often a member of an organized gang
Al Capone remains one of the most notorious gangsters in American history
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of gangster
As far back as audiences can remember, Robert De Niro has brought new life to the gangster genre.
—
Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 20 Mar. 2025
In Season 4 of Godfather of Harlem, Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) continues his bloody war for control of Harlem against New York’s Mafia families, while contending with the arrival of gangster Frank Lucas (Rome Flynn).
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
An hour ago, the stocky British actor best known on these shores for playing tough guys and gangsters was on a morning talk show, after having chatted with Jimmy Fallon the previous evening.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2025
Dealing with the fractious relationship between gangsters and former friends Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, the film strains for an epic quality that the filmmaking doesn’t support.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gangster
Jami Ganz, New York Daily News, 20 Mar. 2025
In Season 4 of Godfather of Harlem, Bumpy Johnson (Forest Whitaker) continues his bloody war for control of Harlem against New York’s Mafia families, while contending with the arrival of gangster Frank Lucas (Rome Flynn).
—Addie Morfoot, Variety, 19 Mar. 2025
An hour ago, the stocky British actor best known on these shores for playing tough guys and gangsters was on a morning talk show, after having chatted with Jimmy Fallon the previous evening.
—David Fear, Rolling Stone, 22 Mar. 2025
Dealing with the fractious relationship between gangsters and former friends Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, the film strains for an epic quality that the filmmaking doesn’t support.
—Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gangster
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gangster
Noun
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The British consul wants to smuggle the seal out of China, with the help of a group of local thugs.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2025
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As the machine gun thug tries to seal that deal for Whitman, Cara attempts to get him in her rifle's sights.—
Matt Cabral,
EW.com,
6 Apr. 2025
Noun
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In the film, Martin Lawrence plays an FBI agent who has to go undercover as a larger-than-life grandma — the eponymous Big Momma — to track down an escaped criminal.—
William Earl,
Variety,
1 Apr. 2025
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In a recent spree of clemency for white collar criminals, President Trump has pardoned Utah entrepreneur Trevor Milton, who was convicted in 2022 of misleading investors in his hydrogen and electric truck company Nikola.—
Erin Alberty,
Axios,
1 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Even when a big threat does arrive on the scene, the heroes aren't there right away, so plenty of innocent people get hurt before a villain gets brought to justice.—
John W. Dean,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Apr. 2025
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Whereas Serena could easily have emerged as a one-note villain, from the beginning of her tenure on the series, Strahovski has imbued Serena with a soulfulness that often puts the audience uncomfortably on her side, despite her reprehensible actions.—
Scarlett Harris,
IndieWire,
7 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Then one day, Moses the Black is struck with the horror of it all and joins a desert monastery, where he's eventually killed by another group of bandits.—
Marco della Cava,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2025
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Instead, her love interest is a charming bandit named Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), cut from the same cloth as the animated Flynn from Disney’s Tangled.—
Josh Spiegel,
The Hollywood Reporter,
22 Mar. 2025
Noun
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And early intensity gave way to a late-game assassin.—
Bennett Durando,
Denver Post,
1 Apr. 2025
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Bruce Glover, the unorthodox actor who portrayed Mr. Wint, the assassin with the distinctive aftershave who partnered with Putter Smith’s Mr. Kidd in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever, has died.—
Mike Barnes,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Mar. 2025
Noun
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Bell, a Ritchie regular, offers an uncouth but equally menacing counterpoint to Brosnan, a mobster who isn’t pretending that he’s crawled out of the muck.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
28 Mar. 2025
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On July 28, 2022, this murder-for-hire scheme involving Russian mobsters and the Iranian regime targeting a defiant dissident was foiled in Brooklyn.—
Katrina Kaufman,
CBS News,
25 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gangster.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gangster. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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