<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>The Mafia, a hierarchically structured secret organization allegedly engaged in smuggling, racketeering, trafficking in narcotics, and other criminal activities in the United States, Italy, and elsewhere.</li><li>Any criminal organization viewed as similar to the Mafia.</li><li>Any small but powerful or influential group in an organization or field; an inordinately prominent and controlling clique.</li><li>A popular attitude of hostility to legal restraint and to the law, often manifesting itself in criminal acts in Sicily.</li><li>A 19th-century secret society, similar to the Camorra in Naples, associated with this attitude toward law and crime.</li></ul>