A gangster is a member of a violent group of criminals — a gang that uses force to make money, for example by selling drugs, taking protection money, or fighting other groups for streets. The picture in films is often a man with a gun in an American city in the 1920s or 1930s, but the word is still used now for organised, violent criminals. It is stronger and more serious than calling someone a thief.

A gangster is a member of a violent group of criminalsgangster是一個暴力犯罪集團的成員——a gang that uses force to make money也就是用暴力手段賺錢的幫派，for example by selling drugs, taking protection money, or fighting other groups for streets例如賣毒品、收保護費，或跟其他幫派搶地盤。The picture in films is often a man with a gun in an American city in the 1920s or 1930s電影裡的畫面常常是1920或1930年代美國城市裡一個拿槍的男人，but the word is still used now for organised, violent criminals但這個字現在仍然用來指有組織的暴力罪犯。It is stronger and more serious than calling someone a thief它比說一個人是thief（小偷）更強烈、更嚴重。

The ending -ster is an old way of making a “person who…” word, so gangster is “a gang person”; it is first written down in 1884.

The ending -ster is an old way of making a "person who…" word-ster這個字尾是一種古老的造字方式，用來表示『做某件事的人』，so gangster is "a gang person"所以gangster就是『幫派裡的人』；it is first written down in 1884這個字最早在1884年被記錄下來。

You will meet it in news, films, and crime stories. Informal American speech, especially in music, sometimes uses gangsta instead; gangster is the standard form.

You will meet it in news, films, and crime stories你會在新聞、電影和犯罪故事裡遇到這個字。Informal American speech, especially in music, sometimes uses gangsta instead非正式的美式口語，尤其是音樂裡，有時候會用gangsta代替，gangster is the standard formgangster才是標準的寫法。