mafia
nouncommon in dialogue
- United Kingdom//ˈmæfi.ə//
- United States//ˈmɑfi.ə//
A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
noun
- 1
A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
- 2
A crime syndicate.
- 3
A trusted group of associates, as of a political leader.
- 4
An entity which attempts to control a specified arena by violence or threats.
moral mafia
Worse, it confirms what one always suspected about the 1930s literary mafia, with their graceless posing and relentless self-obsession — what terrible , terrible bores they were.
Since the victory of gadgetry is "inevitable," you might as well come along quietly and let us smother you in speed and convenience, says the digital mafia.
I can scarcely leave the apartment without being engulfed by journalists, not to mention the fucking left-wing activists and the multicultural mafia that assailed me with spitting and verbal abuse the last time I ventured out […]
Etymology
See Mafia. The sense "entity which attempts to control a specified arena" makes an analogy to crime-syndicate mafias' attempts to control certain kinds of business in the regions in which they exist.
Forms
- plural
- mafias
mafia · A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
Mafia · The Mob: any particular mafia, mentioned uniquely within the…mag · To steal.Mag · chatterbox.