mafia
/ˈmɑfiə/
noun
- A secret criminal organization, especially one originally from Sicily, that is involved in illegal activities such as drug trafficking, extortion, and murder.
- In the movie, the main character tries to escape his family's ties to the mafia.
- The mafia controlled much of the city's illegal gambling and loan sharking.
- Law enforcement has been working for decades to dismantle the mafia's operations.
- A powerful group of people within an organization or industry who secretly work together to control things for their own benefit.
- The tech mafia in Silicon Valley often decides which startups get funding.
- There's a mafia of old professors who block any new teaching methods at the university.
- Some say the fashion mafia dictates what designers can show during fashion week.