mobster
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of mobster
1915–20, mob 1 (in the sense “a member of a criminal gang”)+ -ster
Explanation
A mobster is a bad guy who's involved in organized crime or belongs to a gang. There are many movies about mobsters that take place in the 1920s and 30s. As opposed to individual criminals, members of crime syndicates and gangs belong to a large, structured criminal organization. Someone who belongs to such a group is a mobster or a gangster. The term mobster comes from mob, another name for the Mafia, an Italian organized crime group. Originally mob meant just "a large group of people" or "the common people," from the Latin phrase mobile vulgus, "fickle common people."
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.
Bergen's "Lennon, the Mobster, & the Lawyer" is not to be missed.
From Salon • May 7, 2022
With "Lennon, the Mobster, & the Lawyer: The Untold Story," Jay Bergen has authored a page-turner of a book about, of all things, a lawsuit.
From Salon • May 7, 2022
Mobster Al Capone, convicted of income tax evasion, entered the federal penitentiary in 1932 in Atlanta; Capone was later transferred to Alcatraz Island.
From US News • May 4, 2015
“He let very few people into his inner circle,” says Dick Lehr, co-author of Whitey: The Life of America’s Most Notorious Mobster.
From BusinessWeek • Jul. 18, 2013
Florida Mobster Santo Trafficante Jr., who attended the famous gangland congress at Apalachin, N.Y. in November 1957, is still bossing the games at the Comodoro and the Sans Souci.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
