Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A loose alliance of Japanese criminal organizations and illegal enterprises.
- n. A Japanese gangster.
Wiktionary
- n. A Japanese organized crime gang
- n. A member of a Japanese organized crime gang
WordNet 3.0
- n. a Japanese gangster
- n. organized crime in Japan; an alliance of criminal organizations and illegal enterprises
Etymologies
- From Japanese, やくざ (Wiktionary)
- Japanese, good-for-nothing, gambler, racketeer. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word yakuza itself comes from a losing hand in gambling. 893 ya-ku-za.”
“They were called yakuza, he knew, “yaks” for short.”
“The dark, hedonistic world of the yakuza is the focus, though this story is about the illegal sex trade, a malefic home for unwanted Chinese girls, not a black market for fish.”
“Adelstein calls the yakuza "Goldman Sachs with guns" because of the prowess with which their groups' roughly 80,000 members infiltrate companies through extortion and intimidation.”
“Keiko Itokazu, an independent legislator, said she was concerned that organized crime, known as the yakuza, would exploit casinos for prostitution and selling drugs.”
“It has denied rumors that it sought the aid of Japan's notorious organized crime syndicates, known as the yakuza, to help orchestrate the cover-up.”
“In 1997, the chairman of Japan's then largest bank, Dai-Ichi Kangyo, was convicted of lending billions of yen to members of Japanese organized-crime groups, collectively called the yakuza.”
“The seats allowed the gangsters, known as yakuza, to be clearly visible during television broadcasts of the bouts, a brazen display that sumo experts said was aimed at cheering up an incarcerated syndicate boss watching from prison.”
“The yakuza are the members of traditional organised crime gangs in Japan.”
“Japanese gangsters, known as yakuza, once operated from well-marked offices, often with signs out front and symbols of their trade such as lanterns and samurai swords visible through the windows.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘yakuza’.
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Realia from Everywhere
Culturally defined terms and expressions from the four corners of the world
fjord, mistral steppe, tornado, tsunami, polder, kiwi, koala, sequoia, Abominable Snowman, paprika, spaghetti, empanada and 299 more...
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bad guys
black hat, thug, thugz, highwayman, brigand, pirate, corsair, raider, viking, visigoth, vandal, gangster and 46 more...
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punnything's Words
existentialist, configure, numismatist, autumnal, desist, ennui, taciturn, vacillate, naivete, bloodletting, tete-a-tete, concentric and 274 more...
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Time Out New York
words looked up while copyediting for this magazine
tonsorial, nudnick, doyenne, lothario, ebon, compere, cloaca, carom, evince, jocosity, profligacy, favela and 110 more...
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AP Vocab
apposite, abrogate, fecundity, depredation, pontificate, clout, mot, apopleptic, sacrosanct, yakuza, nihilistic, arcologies and 43 more...
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Words that are also video games
Part of an ongoing series; I couldn't resist.
shinobi, pong, breakout, combat, asteroids, defender, kaboom, thief, abductor, hack, vanguard, blaster and 24 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for yakuza.
hernesheir The worst hand in the Japanese card game oichokabu is an eight, a nine and a three - literally "ya-ku-za" - the origin of the Japanese word for gangster, yakuza. Dec 10, 2010