Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word
bankster. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
bankster, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
bankster in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
bankster you have here. The definition of the word
bankster will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
bankster, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
English
Etymology
Blend of banker + gangster
Judge Ferdinand Pecora has been credited with coining the term "bankster." In June 1933, his image appeared on the cover of Time magazine, seated at a US Senate table, a cigar in his mouth. Pecora’s hearings were said to have coined a new phrase, "banksters" for the finance "gangsters." However, the word, with the same meaning, had appeared in the U.S. press at least a year and a half previous to that.
The term was later used by Léon Degrelle, Belgian fascist politician and journalist, in 1937 as a pejorative term for high financiers.
Pronunciation
Noun
bankster (plural banksters)
- (informal, derogatory) A banker who is seen as criminally irresponsible, or as extorting bailout money from the taxpayers.
2009 February 15, Andrew Rawnsley, “The cabinet's quarrels are a warning of the storms ahead”, in The Observer:Hearing Sir Fred the Shred and the rest of them utter some hedged half-apologies has not made the public feel any warmer to the banksters.
Derived terms
Translations
References
Anagrams