How to Use swashbuckling in a Sentence

swashbuckling

adjective
  • To those who know him, his swashbuckling escapades can seem at odds with his low key, bookish persona.
    — Alexandra Alter, New York Times, 12 Apr. 2023
  • Listen in now for a swashbuckling tale of pirates and polyphenols!
    — Nicola Twilley, The Atlantic, 2 Aug. 2017
  • Back then, swashbuckling startup founders with absentee boards was the norm.
    — Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 1 Aug. 2025
  • In the mood for some swashbuckling action without sipping from a bottle of rum?
    — Chris Bieri, Anchorage Daily News, 14 Sep. 2023
  • His next role was playing the radio voice of the swashbuckling space hero Buck Rogers.
    — David Wolman, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Jan. 2025
  • Once the adorable himbo, Pratt has since become a swashbuckling leading man with abs of steel.
    — Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 20 Nov. 2024
  • There are MacGuffins to grab and fantasy swashbuckling abound.
    — Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 11 Nov. 2023
  • The 22-year-old is capable of swashbuckling runs that carry him — and the ball — half the length of the pitch.
    — Paul Taylor, New York Times, 1 Apr. 2025
  • Elwes protrays the film’s main character, who goes on a swashbuckling adventure to save the love of his life.
    — Lisa Respers France, CNN Money, 30 Dec. 2025
  • But recently, a more swashbuckling caste had begun to infiltrate its stacks.
    — Literary Hub, 28 Jan. 2026
  • But Vikander is definitely not the first name to come to mind for a swashbuckling screen heroine.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA TODAY, 12 Mar. 2018
  • The swashbuckling, old-school crime reporter doesn't believe in computers.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 25 June 2026
  • Your swashbuckling kindergartener can learn how to trade with—and rob—people by playing as miniature pirates on the high seas.
    — Adrienne So, WIRED, 9 Oct. 2024
  • With or without Depp, the legacy of the the swashbuckling series is set to continue.
    — Ineye Komonibo, refinery29.com, 27 June 2020
  • Rostand’s 1897 play in verse about a swashbuckling hero with an oversize nose.
    — Kerry Lengel, azcentral, 6 Dec. 2019
  • Nadal is the swashbuckling baseliner with the heavy topspin groundstrokes and a take-no-points-off tenacity.
    — Jason Gay, WSJ, 11 July 2019
  • The proposal was more of a swashbuckling play for attention than a plan with any rational chance of success.
    — Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times, 22 Dec. 2024
  • Harris sailed with the water theme, later arriving on the stage in a pirate ship dressed in full swashbuckling regalia.
    — Jennifer Kester, Forbes, 8 Mar. 2023
  • Young approached it with a swashbuckling flair, leaping from boat to platform and back and at one point dragging the boat with his whole tribe inside it through the surf.
    — al, 9 Mar. 2022
  • The comics follow the title character, a swashbuckling sea captain whose adventures take him around the world.
    — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 16 Oct. 2024
  • The play’s roles allow its cast to indulge in the child-like fun of becoming swashbuckling heroes and sinister pirates.
    — Eric Marchese, Orange County Register, 8 May 2017
  • This is Cruise is at his most swashbuckling Cruisiest — this time with a Louisiana drawl.
    — Eliza Berman, Time, 13 Oct. 2016
  • The taquero manning the spit has a swashbuckling flair, swiping his blade along the curvature of the trompo and catching the shavings on a tortilla.
    — Cesar Hernandez, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 July 2024
  • There was money to be made peddling lies about swashbuckling frontier gunfighters across hundreds of miles of telegraph wires to clerks in cities around the country.
    — Paul Begala, New York Times, 31 May 2025
  • As swashbuckling as probable champion Barcelona has been, a few names from the pack below the elite bracket have impressed, too.
    — Henry Flynn, Forbes.com, 23 Apr. 2025
  • And although the themes of the story are serious, the tone is relatively light—hope and humor lash its pages, making for a swashbuckling read.
    — Vanessa Armstrong, The Atlantic, 10 Jan. 2025
  • Music, theater, art, dancing and even a bit of swashbuckling philanthropy is on tap in this Weekend Roundup.
    — Carol Wolfram, NOLA.com, 4 Aug. 2017
  • In the film, Page is rescued from a group of bandits by the swashbuckling, roguish army recruit Fanfan and offers him a tulip as thanks.
    — Rhett Bartlett, The Hollywood Reporter, 14 Feb. 2025
  • In the swashbuckling world of British newspapers, the editor Robert Winnett stands out for his lack of flash.
    — Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times, 4 June 2024
  • Piracy at sea is thought of in terms of the swashbuckling Captain Hook, but in reality pirates are still active across the world's oceans.
    — Paul Du Quenoy, MSNBC Newsweek, 26 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'swashbuckling.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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