loan shark

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

By charging fees that would make a loan shark blush.

From MarketWatch • Nov. 15, 2025

Jillette’s latest novel, “Random,” is about a young man who inherits his father’s crushing debt to a loan shark and turns to dice — and other dangerous measures — to dig himself out.

From New York Times • Oct. 5, 2022

It also doesn’t help that Rahim has a slippery past relationship with the truth: He omitted the fact that his original debt was to a loan shark, not a bank.

From Washington Post • Jan. 5, 2022

DeCarlo was a real-life mobster who took an interest in the career of musician Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons and, in the play, helps them settle a debt with a loan shark.

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2021

Again, they’d rather deal with us than with some gangster loan shark.

From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah