mafia

• POS: Noun
• HYPHEN: Ma=fi=a

CIDE DICTIONARY

mafia, n. [It. maffia.].

•  A secret society which organized in Sicily as a political organization, but is now widespread among Italians, and is used to further or protect private interests, reputedly by illegal methods; called also the Sicilian Mafia.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
•  A group of loosely associated of criminal organizations in the United States, some having ties to the Sicilian Mafia, and organized in “families”; the term is applied to the entire group of organizations, or to any one local group. Also, loosely, organized groups of criminals anywhere, as the Russian mafia.  [WordNet 1.6]
•  Any tightly knit group of trusted associates having strong control or influence in some area; as, Kennedy and his Irish Mafia.  [PJC]

mafia, n. 

 see maffia, maffioso.  [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

mafia, n.
1 an organized international body of criminals, orig. in Sicily, now also in Italy and the US.
2 (mafia) a group regarded as exerting a hidden sinister influence.

Etymology

It. dial. (Sicilian), = bragging

THESAURUS

mafia

Black Hand, Cosa Nostra, black market, bootlegging, gambling, gangdom, gangland, gray market, illegal commerce, illegal operations, illegitimate business, illicit business, loan-sharking, moonshining, narcotics traffic, organized crime, prostitution, protection racket, racket, shady dealings, the Mafia, the mob, the rackets, the syndicate, the underworld, traffic in women, usury, white slavery

ROGET THESAURUS

mafia

Thief

N thief, robber, homo triumliterarum, pilferer, rifler, filcher, plagiarist, spoiler, depredator, pillager, marauder, harpy, shark, land shark, falcon, mosstrooper, bushranger, Bedouin, brigand, freebooter, bandit, thug, dacoit, pirate, corsair, viking, Paul Jones, buccaneer, buccanier, piqueerer, pickeerer, rover, ranger, privateer, filibuster, rapparee, wrecker, picaroon, smuggler, poacher, abductor, badger, bunko man, cattle thief, chor, contrabandist, crook, hawk, holdup man, hold-up, jackleg, kidnaper, rustler, cattle rustler, sandbagger, sea king, skin, sneak thief, spieler, strong-arm man, highwayman, Dick Turpin, Claude Duval, Macheath, footpad, sturdy beggar, cut purse, pick purse, pickpocket, light-fingered gentry, sharper, card sharper, skittle sharper, thimblerigger, rook, Greek, blackleg, leg, welsher, defaulter, Autolycus, Jeremy Diddler, Robert Macaire, artful dodger, trickster, swell mob, chevalier d'industrie, shoplifter, swindler, peculator, forger, coiner, fence, receiver of stolen goods, duffer, smasher, burglar, housebreaker, cracksman, magsman, Bill Sikes, Jack Sheppard, Jonathan Wild, gang, gang of thieves, theft ring, organized crime, mafia, the Sicilian Mafia, the mob, la cosa nostra, Dillinger, Al Capone, Robin Hood.