as in gangster
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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as in to blackmail
Related Words
Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of racketeer
Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 15 Nov. 2024
And Connick learned firsthand about being a defendant: Federal prosecutors charged him in 1990 with racketeering and aiding a sports-betting operation.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Jan. 2024
Ira Trivedi, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2015
Parts of the city turned into wastelands of racketeers and alcoholics.
—Simon Shuster, TIME, 4 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for racketeer
Noun
Williams back in April pleaded guilty to racketeer influenced and corrupt organizations, or RICO, conspiracy.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 15 Nov. 2024
And Connick learned firsthand about being a defendant: Federal prosecutors charged him in 1990 with racketeering and aiding a sports-betting operation.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Jan. 2024
Verb
She was arrested and charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, usually reserved for drug racketeers and smugglers running large operations.
—Ira Trivedi, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2015
Parts of the city turned into wastelands of racketeers and alcoholics.
—Simon Shuster, TIME, 4 Jan. 2024
See All Example Sentences for racketeer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racketeer
Noun
-
Ineffably, Renko’s qualities of solidity and rebelliousness bring my father back to me, and the whole 11-book series, set mostly in Russia (with excursions to Cuba and the Arctic Circle), is a galloping wonder, full of apparatchiks, spies, oligarchs, gangsters, and murders galore.—
Taylor Antrim,
Vogue,
16 July 2025
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Aside from the already extraordinary tale of the O’Leary clan, Jim O’Leary led a life of adventure as a main cog for the city’s infamous gambling operations at a time when gangsters battled over control of the Prohibition liquor trade.—
William Lee,
Chicago Tribune,
5 July 2025
Noun
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The 18th Street thugs then attacked a second victim with large wooden planks, causing lacerations that required sutures.—
Michael Dorgan,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
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Plus, she wasn’t forced to live in a remote jungle compound surrounded by gun-toting thugs, because no one was coming after her.—
Sam Kelly,
Time,
8 July 2025
Verb
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In 2023 South Carolina passed a bill called Gavin's Law that criminalized extorting minors or at-risk adults.—
Steve Weisman,
Forbes.com,
5 July 2025
-
The goal is to steal confidential data and install ransomware to extort victim companies for millions in return.—
Michael Kan,
PC Magazine,
27 June 2025
Verb
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But this week, Trump — always looking for a shiny object — is forcing his minions in Congress to muscle through a bill that ends the modest subsidy for the CPB (along with billions in foreign aid and other noble causes).—
Josef Adalian,
Vulture,
17 July 2025
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The effort to claw back a sliver of federal spending comes after Republicans also muscled Trump’s big tax and spending cut bill to approval without any Democratic support.—
Eleanor Pringle,
Fortune,
17 July 2025
Verb
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The attention influencers and celebrities generate fuels this model, but rest assured, checks and balances coerce cooperation.—
Solo Ceesay,
Rolling Stone,
28 July 2025
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If Messi and teammate Jordi Alba skip the event and avoid immediate sanctions, as early reporting from ESPN suggests, what is to coerce Kylian Mbappe 10 years or Lamine Yamal 20 years from now in the twilight of their careers?—
Ian Nicholas Quillen,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
Verb
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So far nothing is forcing the city to even help arrest immigrants, even if Immigration and Customs Enforcement asks. Ohio State Rep. Josh Williams (R-Sylvania) has introduced House Bill 26, which directs state and local authorities to assist ICE.—
Sharon Coolidge,
The Enquirer,
30 July 2025
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In 2022, then-Land Commissioner George P. Bush forced Paxton into a runoff in his bid for a third term for attorney general.—
John C. Moritz,
Austin American Statesman,
30 July 2025
Verb
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And that burgeoning population, menaced by poverty and the police, felt the city’s malignance.—
Doreen St. Félix,
New Yorker,
14 June 2025
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The August 2024 blaze forced some people to flee as the flames menaced their homes, witnesses told this news organization.—
George Avalos,
Mercury News,
22 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Racketeer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racketeer. Accessed 2 Aug. 2025.
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