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
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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
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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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Doing tight curves, trying to muscle the craft with your legs and arms, and protecting your tush through big waves with your legs as shock absorbers does take effort.—
Jeremy Korzeniewski,
Robb Report,
12 July 2025
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Summer league also provides a chance for bubble players to muscle their way into two-way contracts or even NBA playing time.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
10 July 2025
Verb
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Witnesses testified about whether the original detective and prosecutor in his case had coerced them into testifying against Bell at his 1995 trial.—
The Marshall Project,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 July 2025
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The school board responded that the materials did no more than expose the children to new ideas, and that in any case nobody was being coerced.—
Stephen L. Carter,
Mercury News,
8 July 2025
Verb
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Glaser told Variety that her shift in wardrobe allowed viewers to see that she’s taken control of her life, no longer following the gaudy colors and costumes her mother forced upon her in previous seasons.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
15 July 2025
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These design modifications force drivers to drive slower and pay more attention to their environments, increasing the balance between vehicles and pedestrians.—
Ascend Agency,
New York Daily News,
15 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 30 Jul. 2025.
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