loan shark
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of loan shark
An Americanism dating back to 1900–05
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.
By charging fees that would make a loan shark blush.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 15, 2025
A clip of their shared cubicle scene — in which loan shark Kathy rags on Dreux’s low credit score — has captured more than 9.2 million views on Instagram since the film’s Jan. 17 release.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2025
But this spring, with his wife in intensive care, he borrowed money from a loan shark to pay for taxis to visit the hospital, he said.
From BBC ● Nov. 10, 2023
Jillette’s latest novel, “Random,” is about a young man who inherits his father’s crushing debt to a loan shark and turns to dice — and other dangerous measures — to dig himself out.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2022
Again, they’d rather deal with us than with some gangster loan shark.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
