Phrase guide

organized crime

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A large criminal organization, or a group of such organizations, that deals in illegal goods and services.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Organized crime is largely responsible for the nation’s illicit drug trafficking.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The crimes perpetrated by those organizations.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable

Examples

  • Organized crime has dramatically increased in our neighbourhood.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

underworld organizations

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: gangland, gangdom

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: social group

Narrower terms: yakuza, Mafia, Maffia, Sicilian Mafia, Black Hand, Camorra, syndicate, crime syndicate, mob, family

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

44 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: جَرِيمة مُنَظَّمة — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Armenian: կազմակերպված հանցավորություն (kazmakerpvac hancʻavorutʻyun) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Belarusian: арганізаваная злачыннасць (arhanizavanaja zlačynnascʹ) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Chinese Cantonese: 犯罪組織 /犯罪组织 (faan6 zeoi6 zou2 zik1) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Chinese Mandarin: 犯罪組織 /犯罪组织 (fànzuì zǔzhī) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Czech: organizovaný zločin — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Danish: organiseret kriminalitet — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Dutch: georganiseerde misdaad — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Finnish: järjestäytynyt rikollisuus — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • French: crime organisé — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Galician: crime organizado — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Georgian: ორგანიზებული დამნაშავეობა (organizebuli damnašaveoba) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Georgian: ორგანიზებული დანაშაულებრიობა (organizebuli današaulebrioba) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Georgian: ორგანიზებული დანაშაული (organizebuli današauli) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • German: organisiertes Verbrechen — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • German: organisierte Kriminalität — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Hungarian: szervezett bűnözés — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Japanese: 組織犯罪 (soshiki hanzai) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Khmer: ឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មដែលមានអង្គការចាត់តាំង (ʼokkrətkam dael miən ʼɑng kaa cat tang) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Mongolian: зохион байгуулалттай гэмт хэрэг (zoxion bajguulalttaj gemt xereg) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Polish: przestępczość zorganizowana — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Portuguese: crime organizado — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Romanian: crimă organizată — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Russian: организо́ванная престу́пность (organizóvannaja prestúpnostʹ) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Spanish: crimen organizado — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Spanish: hampa — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Swedish: organiserad brottslighet — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Swedish: organiserad kriminalitet — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Thai: องค์กรอาชญากรรม (ong gon àatyaagam) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Ukrainian: організо́вана злочи́нність (orhanizóvana zločýnnistʹ) — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Vietnamese: tổ chức tội phạm — criminal organizations seen as a whole
  • Chinese Mandarin: 有組織犯罪 /有组织犯罪 (yǒuzǔzhī fànzuì) — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Finnish: järjestäytynyt rikollisuus — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • German: organisiertes Verbrechen — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • German: organisierte Kriminalität — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Indonesian: kejahatan terorganisasi — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Indonesian: kejahatan terorganisir — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Kazakh: ұйымдасқан қылмыстылық (ūiymdasqan qylmystylyq) — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Malay: jenayah terancang — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Polish: przestępczość zorganizowana — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Portuguese: crime organizado — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Romanian: crimă (organizată) — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Russian: организо́ванная престу́пность (organizóvannaja prestúpnostʹ) — crimes carried out by these organizations
  • Swedish: organiserad brottslighet — crimes carried out by these organizations