loan-sharking
noun
loan-shark·ing
ˈlōn-ˌshär-kiŋ 
: the practice of lending money at exorbitant rates of interest
Examples of loan-sharking in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Drama follows a teenager drawn back into his father’s violent loan-sharking world, where escape turns into inheritance.
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Anna Marie De La Fuente,
Variety,
18 Apr. 2026
At a time when other states were moving to outlaw the practice and Missouri had yet to act, Sanders built one of Kansas City’s busiest operations, which experts claimed skirted loan-sharking laws by charging fees that a 1992 Kansas City Star article determined to be 384% annual interest.
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Kansas City Star,
18 Sep. 2025
More recently, the town was known for its robust trade in secondhand minibuses and as a center for loan-sharking.
—
Gamze Yilmazel,
Washington Post,
27 July 2023
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Anna Marie De La Fuente,
Variety,
18 Apr. 2026
At a time when other states were moving to outlaw the practice and Missouri had yet to act, Sanders built one of Kansas City’s busiest operations, which experts claimed skirted loan-sharking laws by charging fees that a 1992 Kansas City Star article determined to be 384% annual interest.
—
Kansas City Star,
18 Sep. 2025
More recently, the town was known for its robust trade in secondhand minibuses and as a center for loan-sharking.
—
Gamze Yilmazel,
Washington Post,
27 July 2023
Cite this Entry
“Loan-sharking.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/loan-sharking. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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