Make Your Point: OMERTA

Make Your Point > Archived Issues > OMERTA

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pronounce OMERTA:

Several pronunciations are listed in dictionaries. I prefer "oh MARE tuh."

Other options include "oh MUR tuh" and "aw mare TAH."

connect this word to others:

A high five to Rolland, who spotted the word omerta in the Wall Street Journal! Rolland, you're awesome, and so is everyone else who's alerted me to cool words I may have never found on my own.

Like Regina, who found us a hip monosyllabic German loanword meaning "true, real, genuine, authentic:" e__t.

And Mark, who found us a kooky one likely invented for a musical meaning "a place that seems to have gotten stuck in the distant past:" _r_gad__n.

And Yeshua, who found us the delightfully precise word for "the fear and anxiety that you feel when you worry that you're getting too old to take advantage of certain opportunities in life:" _or______p_n_k.

(To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.)

definition:

We took "omerta" into English from Italian around the year 1864. It might trace further back to the Latin humilitas, "humility: lowness, or meekness."

Omerta, or "the omerta," is a code of loyalty to a group, including a strict rule of silence about the group itself. In other words, omerta is the sense of honor you show to a group you're in, often by refusing to give information about the group to those outside of it.

While omerta originated in the Mafia, its can be applied to any group—but it still connotes that the group involves criminal activity, or at least secret activity.

Some writers have also begun using the term more loosely to mean an agreement to not talk about some particular thing in some particular situation.

grammatical bits:

Part of speech:

Noun, most often the uncountable kind: "They abide by omerta;" "They live by the code of omerta."

Sometimes the countable kind: "There is a certain omerta surrounding terrorism" (Washington Post).

Other forms:

If you'd like to retain the word's Italian flavor, use the mark over the last letter: "omertà."

how to use it:

Pick the ultra-rare "omerta" (instead of a plainer term like "code of silence") when you want to compare some group to the Mafia, implying that its members routinely break the law or just keep their secrets tightly guarded.

You might say that someone abides by omerta, lives by omerta, or is bound by omerta.

Or you could say someone is breaking omerta or violating omerta: that is, they're spilling the group's secrets, or talking about what shouldn't be talked about, especially to the authorities.

Lastly, a word of caution, similar to the one I issued about "vendetta." It's probably a bad idea to pick the word "omerta" to describe Italian people for no other reason than they're Italian and "omerta" is an Italian word. That's probably going to sound racist, or imply all Italians are in the Mafia. Cringe.

examples:

"The omerta has lifted. The press corps is finally admitting what was plain to Americans for years—that Joe Biden was in mental and physical decline during his Presidency."
— Staff, Morning Editorial Report, Wall Street Journal, 25 May 2025

"Sarah says she still feels bound by a peculiar omerta which surrounds the industry [of working on a superyacht]. Nobody I spoke to would name owners or guests on the record."
— Ed Cumming, The Guardian, 7 September 2014

has this page helped you understand "omerta"?

Awesome, I'm glad it helped!

Thanks for letting me know!
If you have any questions about this term, please message me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

study it:

Explain the meaning of "omerta" without saying "code of honor" or "code of silence."

try it out:

Fill in the blanks: "(Some place or group) has an omerta to protect (those who somehow break the law or victimize others)."

Example 1: "It's changing now, but Hollywood had an omerta to protect powerful men who assaulted vulnerable women."

Example 2: "Racial profiling, police brutality, and an omerta to protect abusive and violent officers is as characteristic of Chicago as cold winters."
— David Masciotra, Salon, 29 March 2019

before you review, play:

Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.

Our game for this month is Make Your Point Before & After!

I'll give you a clue, and you give me a verbal mashup including at least one word or phrase we've studied before.

For example, if I give you "It's the kind of theatrical stage setting that encourages the actors to radically overact," then you give me "mise en scenery chewing," a mashup of "mise en scene" and "scenery chewing."

Try this one today: It's the routine paperwork (of filling out your character sheets) before you and your friends can embark on a Dungeons & Dragons adventure.

To reveal the first two hints, highlight the hidden white text.

Hint 1: The number of words in this Before & After is... three. Two are hyphenated together.

Hint 2: The first word in this Before & After is... well, that'd be a big hint, but the first three letters are "rig."

Hint 3: Use this term.

To see the answer, scroll all the way down.

review this word:

1. A near opposite of OMERTA is

A. TRANSPARENCY: a policy of openly sharing information.
B. a PINK TAX: a higher price on items marketed to girls and women.
C. a GLASS CEILING: an unwritten rule that stops women or minorities from rising too high within their careers.

2. According to Brian Logan, the comedian Josie Long "shredded" what was then "comedy's omerta on passionate political feeling," meaning she _____.

A. broke its silence
B. questioned its validity
C. dismantled its patriarchy

a final word:

I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love.

I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words.

From my blog:
On vocabulary...
  36 ways to study words.
  Why we forget words, & how to remember them.
  How to use sophisticated words without being awkward.
On writing...
How to improve any sentence.
How to motivate our kids to write.
How to stop procrastinating and start writing.
How to bulk up your writing when you have to meet a word count.

From my heart: a profound thanks to the generous patrons, donors, and sponsors that make it possible for me to write these emails. If you'd like to be a patron or a donor, please click here. If you'd like to be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com.

A disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes.

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