racketeer
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
racketeersimple
-
racketeerssimple
-
have racketeeredperfect
-
has racketeeredperfect
-
am racketeeringprogressive
-
are racketeeringprogressive
-
is racketeeringprogressive
-
have been racketeeringperfect progressive
-
has been racketeeringperfect progressive
Past
-
racketeeredsimple
-
had racketeeredperfect
-
was racketeeringprogressive
-
were racketeeringprogressive
-
had been racketeeringperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of racketeer
Explanation
A racketeer is a criminal, especially one who's involved in organized white collar crime or dishonest business dealings. If a lawyer embezzles money from her clients, she is a racketeer. Racketeers commit crimes in order to make money for themselves. In many cases, a racketeer is a business owner or professional who falsifies financial records to hide income or bills clients for more than they owe. A racket is a scam or fake service that's run by a racketeer — and the crime itself, if the racketeer is caught, is called racketeering. The source of all three words is thought to be racquet, and the idea of a scam as a "game."
Vocabulary lists containing racketeer
1984
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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.
See Examples For:
An alleged Chinese racketeer linked to a hugely lucrative scam hub in Myanmar was extradited from Thailand to China on Wednesday, a police official in Bangkok told AFP.
From Barron's ● Nov. 12, 2025
Browner, Chambers and Lesley Chappell Green, 35, of Stone Mountain were all convicted of racketeer influenced and corrupt organization conspiracy.
From Washington Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
There is no evidence Butler gained materially from being “a racketeer for capitalism” — his words — who “helped rape a half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 18, 2022
Gerald Shur was 15 when he first met a mobster, a bodyguard for a racketeer seeking to intimidate his father, a dressmaker in New York City’s garment district.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 2, 2020
Beacon pbo 1955, released 1959 Evening waster about a racketeer who specializes in quick divorces, and his girlfriend who flirts with all the women as he disengages them from their husbands.
From Checklist A complete, cumulative Checklist of lesbian, variant and homosexual fiction, in English or available in English translation, with supplements of related material, for the use of collectors, students and librarians. by Bradley, Marion Zimmer
Mr. Civiletti was known for prosecuting racketeers, public corruption, white-collar crime and drug trafficking.
From New York Times ● Oct. 17, 2022
After World War II especially, racketeers moved in on the popularity of restaurants and nightclubs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2021
With FBI agents posing as officials in the company, and eventually as sheikhs, the group swept up mid-level racketeers until receiving an introduction to Angelo Errichetti, the well-connected mayor of Camden, N.J.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 7, 2018
Brewer-Giorgio, now 78, said the FBI enlisted Presley as an undercover agent in 1976 to help the agency infiltrate a criminal organization called “The Fraternity,” which was apparently made up of dozens of racketeers.
From Time ● Aug. 15, 2017
And the fact that I was “the young Brother Baldwin” increased my value with those same pimps and racketeers who had helped to stampede me into the church in the first place.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
In 36 years in Chicago, I have never been held up, robbed or racketeered.
From Time Magazine Archive
Under his plea deal with US authorities, Zambada faced a mandatory minimum term of life imprisonment without parole on a racketeering charge.
From Barron's ● Jul. 20, 2026
But Guo was later convicted on charges of racketeering, fraud and money laundering.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Johnson was imprisoned late last year for contempt of court after being found civilly liable for $71 million in damages in a civil racketeering case.
From Slate ● May 28, 2026
It listed two alleged violations of Florida’s civil racketeering statute, the names of the defendants, and options to check “yes” or “no.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
They were mostly in for white-collar crimes, money schemes, fraud and racketeering.
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.
