lynch mob
Extrajudicial killing crowd
A lynch mob is a group that seizes and kills someone without legal authority, typically by hanging.
The term evokes racist violence in American history, when white mobs murdered Black people with impunity.
Today it often appears figuratively for any group seeking to destroy someone's reputation or career through collective outrage: The online lynch mob came for him after the tweet surfaced.
Feeling strong displeasure
- crowdLarge public gathering
- hangingExecution by noose
- nooseLoop that constricts
- ropeThick twisted fibers
tree · torch · pitchfork · beating · murder · killing · brutality · attack
Outside court authority
- posseArmed group pursuing fugitives
- rough justiceApproximate, harsh fairness
- frontier justiceExtralegal punishment in lawless regions
- lawlessnessAbsence of governing rules
self-appointed · enforcers · manhunt · pursuit · capture · kangaroo court · summary execution · anarchy
Prejudice based on ethnicity
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
- segregationForced separation by group
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
- terrorExtreme, overwhelming fear
intimidation · spectacle · photography · postcards · complicity · bystanders · silence · impunity
Conformity-driven poor decisions
- hysteriaUncontrollable emotional excess
- scapegoatingUnfairly assigning fault to innocents
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
- witch huntPersecuting supposed wrongdoers
frenzy · contagion · deindividuation · anonymity · herd · pack · incitement · rabble
angry
Feeling strong displeasure
rope · tree · torch · pitchfork · beating · murder · killing · brutality · attack · assault
extrajudicial
Outside court authority
- posseArmed group pursuing fugitives
- rough justiceApproximate, harsh fairness
- frontier justiceExtralegal punishment in lawless regions
lawlessness · self-appointed · enforcers · manhunt · pursuit · capture · kangaroo court · summary execution · anarchy · outlaws
racism
Prejudice based on ethnicity
- Jim CrowRacial separation laws
- segregationForced separation by group
- oppressionUnjust exercise of power
terror · intimidation · spectacle · photography · postcards · complicity · bystanders · silence · impunity · trauma
groupthink
Conformity-driven poor decisions
- hysteriaUncontrollable emotional excess
- scapegoatingUnfairly assigning fault to innocents
- persecutionSystematic mistreatment of groups
witch hunt · frenzy · contagion · deindividuation · anonymity · herd · pack · incitement · rabble · ringleader
- Wild Westcowboy, howdy, sheriff, giddyup, lawmen
- civil unrestriot, riots, rioting, uprising, revolt
- mob psychologyherd behavior, pack mentality, deindividuation, mass hysteria, collective behavior
- vigilantesBatman, Punisher, Robin Hood, Zorro, avenger
- mob violenceriot, vigilantism, looting, rampage, violent protest
- vigilantismvigilante, vigilantism, frontier justice, posse, kangaroo court
lynch mobjury
Legal decision-making body
court of law · due process · fair trial · tribunal · grand jury
lynch mobdefense team
Attorneys representing the accused
public defender · defense attorney · legal counsel · civil liberties union · innocence project