Meaning of omertà | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A code of silence amongst members of the Mafia that forbids divulging insider secrets to law enforcement, often also followed outside of the organization for fear of retaliation.
   countable, uncountable
2. Any code of silence (especially about something illegal or secret), or refusal to talk openly about something.
   broadly, countable, uncountable

Equivalents

Examples

“Here we have the unfortunate heirloom of corrupt government—Omertà (a Sicilian word, meaning silence on the part of witnesses to a deed of blood). The Government arrests a delinquent and has him tried before a court; but the latter, for want of witnesses, cannot condemn. "We dare not speak," say the victims themselves; "the robber has powerful friends in these parts; we might be made to suffer worse than we have to complain of; it is better to bear with the past than to ruin the future."”

“Where such a thing as Sicilian omertà exists, the most perfect laws, and the most honestly-intentioned executive in the world cannot escape falling into errors.”

“The power of the mafia in action is supported by a code of ethics, prevalent and exclusively respected throughout the island, called "Omertà." […] Omertà requires that your own hand alone should protect your head; but it also requires that in any circumstances in which it should fail to be able to do so, the man who has omertà at heart must bend his head and suffer. Vengeance, however tardy, and obtained by whatever amount of treachery and striking from behind, is in honourable conformity with omertà; but there must be no appeal to law.”

“Among the social oaths dictated by the frieno, by far the foremost in importance is the omertà, the most solemn oath never to denounce, not even at one's deathbed, any wrong suffered through a fellow associate, never to reveal one's own murderer, never to have recourse to the aid of the law for any reason whatsoever, but to avenge the offense with one's own hands, if possible, after having first laid the complaint before the natural judges or the Camorra Tribunal.”

“Patriarca [Raymond Patriarca Jr.] pleaded guilty in December 1991 to racketeering and conspiracy charges, but he refused to admit he was a member of the Mafia, clinging to his vow of "omerta" to the secret organization.”

“The unspoken emotions he [John McGahern] dissects expose a repressive world of ordinary people from both sides in the civil war of 1922: of policemen, nurses and teachers; of ancient hatreds passed down from generation to generation, submerged in the Irish omertàs which make taboo so many aspects of tenderness and sexual expression; of the fear and secrecy surrounding the country's age-old political vendettas.”

“There was a time that high-profile killings such as the 1968 assassinations of Robert F[rancis] Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. brought passionate cries for limitations on handguns. A bipartisan omerta now smothers the issue.”

“But although her [Carol Thatcher's] agent has invoked that tradition of post-show omerta in her defence, the truth is that few would trust these days to what it is now possibly risky to call Chinese walls.”

“Over the past ten years, a series of high-profile CEOs have broken unwritten omertas not to address the contentious challenges posed by climate change, human rights, and increased transparency.”

“Of all the media outlets, the New York Times was the only one to mention the close-hold embargo: […] The FDA [Food and Drug Administration] was not pleased that the omertà had been broken.”

“Despite criticising what he [Sadiq Khan] called an "omertà" in British politics about Brexit, he expressed some sympathy for the Labour leader Keir [Starmer]'s wariness about the issue.”

“Judith Godrèche, an actor who has accused two high-profile directors of raping her as a teenager, will address France's most prestigious film awards ceremony on Friday in an unusual move aimed at breaking what she calls the "omertà" surrounding the abuse of women and girls in the industry.”

“Patriarca [Raymond Patriarca Jr.] pleaded guilty in December 1991 to racketeering and conspiracy charges, but he refused to admit he was a member of the Mafia, clinging to his vow of "omerta" to the secret organization.”

“There was a time that high-profile killings such as the 1968 assassinations of Robert F[rancis] Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. brought passionate cries for limitations on handguns. A bipartisan omerta now smothers the issue.”

“But although her [Carol Thatcher's] agent has invoked that tradition of post-show omerta in her defence, the truth is that few would trust these days to what it is now possibly risky to call Chinese walls.”

“Over the past ten years, a series of high-profile CEOs have broken unwritten omertas not to address the contentious challenges posed by climate change, human rights, and increased transparency.”

CEFR level