Etymology
Origin of gangbanger
An Americanism dating back to 1930–35 gangbanger ( for def. 1 ), and to 1965–70 gangbanger ( for def. 2 ); gang 1 ( ) + bang 1 ( def. ) + -er 1 ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Johnson was never a gangbanger; he was one of those unsupervised boys who was “just around,” spending his time on the corner of Bassett and Dixwell, the center of his world.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 1, 2022
Luis J. Rodriguez, literary lodestar The trajectory from gangbanger in South San Gabriel to city poet laureate and bestselling author would have been dramatic enough.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2022
Mr. Lamar is working to purify hip-hop, a genre he hopes to ground in his true experiences of growing up poor, the son of a former gangbanger.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2015
He comes across as the kid-next-door who loves his mom more than a hustler or gangbanger, and the sparse, soul-dipped production underlines his cleverness and off-the-cuff charm.
From Chicago Tribune ● Dec. 13, 2012
Equal parts gangbanger and flowery, sequin-covered grande dame, the new Givenchy man was as strangely ravishing as the tropical bird of paradise flowers that dressed up his military drab.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 25, 2011
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
