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
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as in to blackmail
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of racketeer
Ira Trivedi, Foreign Affairs, 7 Aug. 2015
Parts of the city turned into wastelands of racketeers and alcoholics.
—Simon Shuster, TIME, 4 Jan. 2024
Spin Staff, SPIN, 31 Oct. 2024
Zoom in: Madigan is charged with 23 counts ranging from racketeering conspiracy to a host of other crimes.
—Justin Kaufmann, Axios, 8 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for racketeer
Noun
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
Verb
Three co-defendants accepted plea deals earlier this week on racketeering conspiracy charges and were sentenced to probation and time served.
—Spin Staff, SPIN, 31 Oct. 2024
Zoom in: Madigan is charged with 23 counts ranging from racketeering conspiracy to a host of other crimes.
—Justin Kaufmann, Axios, 8 Oct. 2024
See All Example Sentences for racketeer
Recent Examples of Synonyms for racketeer
Noun
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As is the norm in the ’90s, L.A. rapper Tone Loc is part of the cast as a gangster from around the way named Frog.—
Alphonse Pierre,
Pitchfork,
9 May 2025
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In 1979, when Carmine Galante, the head of the Bonanno crime family, was killed, the photographer Hal Goldenberg hoofed it up onto a roof in Brooklyn to get a shot of the gangster’s cooling corpse.—
Vinson Cunningham,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
Noun
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There’s no dearth of evil Imperial thugs in Andor — however, one character who seems to exist in a complicated moral gray is Lonni Jung (Robert Emms), a fellow ISB officer who attends Partagaz’s closed-door briefings alongside Dedra but relays the Empire’s plans to Luthen in secret.—
Siddhant Adlakha,
Vulture,
21 Apr. 2025
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Speaking of the stand: The prosecution’s main witness changes her damning testimony against Gomez when one of his thugs — the same guy that was trying to get Noah to get in his car — arrives in court and glares menacingly from the back row.—
Kimberly Roots,
TVLine,
17 Apr. 2025
Verb
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That laid the groundwork for Iran to retain the capability to continue to use its nuclear program to extort the United States and ultimately build a nuclear weapon.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
12 May 2025
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Since then, the Club Shay Shay host and his legal team have vehemently denied the allegations and claimed the Jane Doe set up the entire situation with a plan to extort him for $50 million.—
Regina Cho,
VIBE.com,
5 May 2025
Verb
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Similarly blond and muscled—the two are alike enough to be twins, though Jake now wears a bushy, jutting beard, whereas Logan’s is more closely cropped—the brothers often beefed.—
Naomi Fry,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2025
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Queen is a brawny, physical big who muscled through opponents to average 19.5 points and 10.8 rebounds this season.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Carter argued his confession was coerced, and the witnesses, two immigrants without legal status, later said police and prosecutors had pressured them to falsely implicate Carter.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
16 May 2025
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The ensuing conflict between them takes an abrupt turn into a hotel-room two-hander as Anima fastens Abel to a bed and coerces him into confronting his feelings by playing his own music to him and dispensing shallow insights about how his songs’ upbeat melodies belie their cry-for-help content.—
Charles Bramesco,
IndieWire,
15 May 2025
Verb
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Some have succeeded in slashing sales and forcing policy changes.—
Betty Lin-Fisher,
USA Today,
19 May 2025
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Speechless in Idaho Dear Speechless: There is no way to force a bully to stop.—
Mark Mondier,
Arkansas Online,
18 May 2025
Verb
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As Montgomery’s troops menaced Montreal, Carleton abandoned his seat of governance at the Chateau Ramezay and gave up the city without a fight.—
Eli Wizevich,
Smithsonian Magazine,
12 May 2025
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The impostors then stole two hot dogs and menaced the vendor with a knife before taking off on Seventh Ave., heading toward 44th St. Cops took one man into custody following the heist, and are looking for a second person dressed in a red hoodie, black pants and black and white sneakers.—
Nicholas Williams,
New York Daily News,
8 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Racketeer.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/racketeer. Accessed 24 May. 2025.
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