mafia
/ˈmɑfi.ə/noun
mafia is spelled M-A-F-I-A: 5 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, mafia means “A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of mafia is mafias.
How many letters and syllables are in mafia?
| Letters | 5: M-A-F-I-A |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is mafia?
Mafia appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce mafia?
- US /ˈmɑfi.ə/
- UK /ˈmæfi.ə/
Mafia has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-mafia.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of mafia
- mafias plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does mafia mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A hierarchically structured secret organisation engaged in illegal activities like distribution of narcotics, gambling and extortion.
- 2
A crime syndicate.
- 3
A trusted group of associates, as of a political leader.
- 4
An entity which attempts to control a specified arena by violence or threats.
moral mafia
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Mafia in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a crime syndicate:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does mafia come from?
See Mafia. The sense "entity which attempts to control a specified arena" makes an analogy to crime-syndicate mafias' attempts to control certain kinds of business in the regions in which they exist.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).