mafia en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈmɑfi.ə/ (US)
- (Southern-England) audio
- /ˈmæfi.ə/ (UK)
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.
Meanings
- A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
- A crime syndicate.
- A trusted group of associates, as of a political leader.
-
(in-compounds) An entity which attempts to control a specified arena by violence or threats.
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.
2000, Senator Robert Torricelli, Andrew Carroll, In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century, page 432: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 […]
2019, Anne Holt, In Dust and Ashes, page 83: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.
1994, Francis Wheen, Lord Gnome's Literary Companion, page 161:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| maffia | alternative, obsolete | lexicographic | |
| mafias | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Deriveds
mafia state · Murphia · nonmafia · rainbow mafia · Kosher Mafia · Taffia · mafia hypothesis · mafiocracy · alphabet mafia · mafialike
Translations (68)
id mafia (a crime syndicate) · ky мафия (a crime syndicate) · ur مافِیا (a crime syndicate) · kk мафия (a crime syndicate) · mk мафија (a crime syndicate) · ja マフィア (a crime syndicate) · tg мафия (a crime syndicate) · cmn 黑手黨 /黑手党 (a crime syndicate) · kmr mafya (a crime syndicate) · ug مافىيا (a crime syndicate) · fi mafia (a crime syndicate) · tl sindikato (a crime syndicate) · be ма́фія (a crime syndicate) · bg ма́фия (a crime syndicate) · ar مَافِيَا (a crime syndicate) · hi माफ़िया (a crime syndicate) · mr माफिया (a crime syndicate) · mn мафи (a crime syndicate) · cmn 黑幫 /黑帮 (a crime syndicate) · uk ма́фія (a crime syndicate) · de Mafia (a crime syndicate) · sh ма́фија (a crime syndicate) · vi xã hội đen (a crime syndicate) · ca màfia (a crime syndicate) · fa-ira مافْیا (a crime syndicate) · ga maifia (a crime syndicate) · is mafía (a crime syndicate) · hu maffia (a crime syndicate) · bn মাফিয়া (a crime syndicate) · lt mafija (a crime syndicate) · uz mafiya (a crime syndicate) · th มาเฟีย (a crime syndicate) · eo mafio (a crime syndicate) · az mafiya (a crime syndicate) · sl mafija (a crime syndicate) · el μαφία (a crime syndicate) · he מַפִיָה (a crime syndicate) · ja やくざ (a crime syndicate) · ja 黒手党 (a crime syndicate) · ro mafie (a crime syndicate) · nl maffia (a crime syndicate) · tr mafya (a crime syndicate) · sk mafia (a crime syndicate) · ru ма́фия (a crime syndicate) · ja 秘密集団 (a crime syndicate) · tk mafiýa (a crime syndicate) · et maffia (a crime syndicate) · lv mafija (a crime syndicate) · cmn 秘密政黨 /秘密政党 (a crime syndicate) · it mafia (a crime syndicate) · ms mafia (a crime syndicate) · es mafia (a crime syndicate) · cmn 秘密集團 /秘密集团 (a crime syndicate) · pt máfia (a crime syndicate) · cs mafie (a crime syndicate) · sh máfija (a crime syndicate) · ko 마피아 (a crime syndicate) · nb mafia (a crime syndicate) · tl mafia (a crime syndicate) · da mafia (a crime syndicate) · sq mafia (a crime syndicate) · sv maffia (a crime syndicate) · hy մաֆիա (a crime syndicate) · my မာဖီးယား (a crime syndicate) · ka მაფია (a crime syndicate) · pl mafia (a crime syndicate) · fr mafia (a crime syndicate) · gl mafia (a crime syndicate)