extortionists

noun

plural of extortionist
as in gangsters
a person who gets money from another by using force or threats tortured by a gang of extortionists into revealing the combination for the money vault

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of extortionists There still will be scammers, extortionists, extremists and others who try to take advantage of teens and adults. — Larry Magid, Mercury News, 26 Aug. 2026 As bomb technicians struggled to disarm the explosive, the FBI raced against the clock to deliver the ransom while simultaneously hunting the extortionists. — Andreas Wiseman, Deadline, 21 Aug. 2026 The restaurant owner, who did not wish to be identified because his family is still in India, said extortionists have threatened to kill them. — Joe Rubin, Sacbee.com, 8 July 2026 As the bomb squad works to disarm it, FBI rushes to catch the extortionists. — William Earl, Variety, 29 Apr. 2026 These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyze corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate digital sabotage. — Reuters, CNN Money, 20 Sep. 2025 These kinds of sweeping outages are typically the result either of ransomware attacks, where online extortionists paralyse corporate networks in the hope of payment, or deliberate sabotage. — Reuters, NBC news, 20 Sep. 2025 Combined with other high-tech attacks, such as deepfake phishing attempts, AI agents will create new and potentially highly problematic avenues of attack for hackers, fraudsters and extortionists. — Bernard Marr, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for extortionists
  1. gangsters
  2. thugs
  3. blackmailers
  4. racketeers
Noun
  • For decades, Hollywood actor Danny Trejo’s bread and butter was playing gangsters, prison inmates and other assorted criminals.
    — Corky Siemaszko, NBC news, 15 Oct. 2026
  • The world of gangsters and rappers loomed large over the trial.
    — Cindy Von Quednow, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
Definition of gangsters
Noun
  • These low-level thugs typically are not believed to be formally aligned with Iran.
    — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026
  • Saint played Edie Doyle, whose brother was murdered by thugs working for a mob boss running a longshoremen's union; her character becomes involved with Brando's pugilistic dockworker Terry Malloy.
    — David Morgan, CBS News, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of thugs
Noun
  • Despite paying off blackmailers and marrying Lady Olivia Hedges (Danielle Galligan) to protect his secret, Arthur still loses his father’s Parliament seat after getting caught committing election fraud.
    — Lynsey Eidell, PEOPLE, 27 Sep. 2025
  • Grandchildren are being summoned to help grandparents deal with blackmailers.
    — Yvonne Zipp, Christian Science Monitor, 17 Sep. 2025
Definition of blackmailers
Noun
  • Of course, entrusting waste management to gangsters and racketeers has repercussions.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 8 July 2026
  • The characters were based on a real family of bookmakers and racketeers who once lived in England.
    — Sarah Moore, Freep.com, 5 Mar. 2026
Definition of racketeers

Browse Nearby Words

extortionist
extortionists
extorts
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Extortionists.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/extortionists. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

Did 'orange' the fruit or the color come first?
See More

Popular

See More

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

16 Food Words Recently Added to the Dictionary

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
artwork of illustrated limes with the text limes and smile with an arrow connecting the two words
Quiz: Spot the Anagram! Scramble these words to find new words with the e...
See All