kingpins
Top mob bosses
Kingpins is the plural of kingpin, the central pin in a bowling arrangement or the bolt around which a vehicle's wheels pivot.
The dominant meaning is figurative: a kingpin is the most important person in an organization, especially a criminal one: drug kingpins, cartel kingpins.
The term suggests someone at the top of an illicit hierarchy.
Influential industry leader
- tycoonDominant industrial leader
- magnateWealthy business leader
- powerbrokerWielder of political influence
- oligarchMember of small ruling class
baron · czar · heavyweight · industrialist · titan · boss · chief · honcho
Organized crime member
- bossWorkplace superior
- donPut on attire
- capoString-shortening clamp device
- godfatherMale baptismal guardian
cartel · syndicate · mafia · underworld · racketeer · trafficker · smuggler · gangster
Point of rotation
- swivelRotating connection point
- hingeMovable connecting joint
- axleShaft for wheel rotation
- jointShared by multiple parties
steering · coupling · truck · skateboard · suspension · articulation · mount · bearing
mogul
Influential industry leader
- tycoonDominant industrial leader
- magnateWealthy business leader
- powerbrokerWielder of political influence
oligarch · baron · czar · heavyweight · industrialist · titan · boss · chief · honcho · big shot
mobster
Organized crime member
godfather · cartel · syndicate · mafia · underworld · racketeer · trafficker · smuggler · gangster · overlord
pivot
Point of rotation
joint · steering · coupling · truck · skateboard · suspension · articulation · mount · bearing · knuckle
pin
Pointed metal fastener
pocket · rack · ball · lane · alley · sweep · frame · split · gutter · hook
- tycoonsoil tycoon, tycoons, railroad tycoon, John Rockefeller, magnates
- power playerspower brokers, insiders, dealmakers, influencers, kingmakers
- drug traffickersdrug dealers, drug lords, traffickers, narcos, dealers
- narcotraffickingdrug trafficking, drug cartels, drug lord, drug lords, narcos
- roller skate partswheels, bearings, boot, plate, toe stop
- eliteselites, plutocrats, oligarchs, aristocrats, blue bloods
kingpinsunderlings
Lower-ranked employees
subordinates · minions · lackeys · henchmen · foot soldiers
kingpinsnobodies
Unimportant, unknown persons
small-timers · bit players · nonentities · petty criminals · small potatoes