amagent

English

Alternative forms

• ma-gent

Noun

amagent (plural amagents)

1. (South Africa) A young male criminal gang member.
   • 1998, Crime and Conflict (issues 13-22, page 26)

     In the amagents' telling, police regularly accept bribes to overlook the crimes or drop the charges against the amagents.

   • 2002, Mark Shaw, Crime and Policing in Post-apartheid South Africa, page 60:

     Young black men who are engaged in crime — or amagents as they are popularly known in townships — told interviewers that violent and broken homes and poverty were the two key factors that had influenced their decision to become involved […]

   • 2011, Chris Blazina, David S. Shen-Miller, An International Psychology of Men, page 29:

     Amagents may be defined as young men who tend to regard themselves as streetwise and may be involved in petty or serious criminal activity.

References

• Tony Thorne (2014) “amagent”, in Dictionary of Contemporary Slang, 4th edition, London,  […]: Bloomsbury