highwayman

noun

Definition of highwaymannext
as in brigand
a man especially in the past who stopped travelers on roads and robbed them

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of highwayman Shortly before midnight on May 23, 1798, highwaymen just north of Dublin intercepted and set on fire a mail coach headed to Belfast. — Joseph Patrick Kelly, The Conversation, 20 May 2025 Dee is in his Springheel Jack costume, since London bobbies of that era would rather work with a mythical highwayman than a real Chinese man. — Yvonne Zipp, Christian Science Monitor, 1 Apr. 2025 In the irreverent retelling of the 18th-century highwayman’s life, Turpin is the most famous but least likely of robbers, whose success is defined mostly by his charm, showmanship, and great hair. — Jake Kanter, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2025 Dick Turpin was an English robber and highwayman whose criminal activities gained him notoriety in the early eighteenth century. — Ben Morse, CNN, 14 Jan. 2025 The group gets further assistance from a charming aristocratic dandy/secret highwayman named Charles Devereaux (Frank Dillane). — Ars Technica, 24 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for highwayman
  1. brigand
  2. bandit
  3. pirate
  4. assassin
  5. criminal
  6. outlaw
  7. desperado
  8. offender
Noun
  • Their captors beset by these foreign brigands, Larys and Aegon manage to escape.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
  • That’s the state Supergirl is in when she is dragged into a local dispute on some far-off planet, defending the honor of an orphaned teenage girl, Ruthye (Eve Ridley); her parents were murdered by a brigand named Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts).
    — David Sims, The Atlantic, 26 June 2026
Definition of brigand
Noun
  • Attacks by bandits are common across northern Nigeria where armed groups carry out attacks against civilian populations.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Attacks by bandits are common across northern Nigeria, where armed groups carry out attacks against civilian populations.
    — Dyepkazah Shibayan, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2026
Definition of bandit
Noun
  • And for more than two heady years, music lovers within a mile or two of the Sunset Junction area could groove to the wildly eclectic sounds of KBLT, a pirate radio station that operated from 1995 to 1998.
    — Pat Saperstein, Variety, 27 Oct. 2026
  • Many Orlando-area homes feature skeletons that tower over the neighborhood, witchy covens, horror movie icons, clowns, pirate ships, pumpkins, zombies and vampires.
    — Patrick Connolly, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of pirate
Noun
  • Celaena won the tournament and is now working for the king as his main assassin.
    — Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Instead, Cartwright returns to his deceased grandfather’s home thrilled to see that Baker has successfully evaded both the Russian assassins and MI5’s own rabid dogs.
    — K.J. Yossman, Variety, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of assassin
Noun
  • This can help prevent criminals from opening new credit accounts using your information.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 25 Oct. 2026
  • Ford placed the inmate’s bid for clemency on the agenda of the state pardons board — an example, Lombardo claims, of the way Ford treats criminals.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Oct. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • The bans at the center of the consolidated case outlaw the purchase of AR-15 and similar semiautomatic rifles, with the justices set to rule on whether those bans violate the Second or 14th amendments.
    — Jack Birle, The Washington Examiner, 23 Oct. 2026
  • On the other was the outlaw gang known as the Cowboys, led by Ike and Billy Clanton.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of outlaw
Noun
  • Forty-six years after his death, Steve McQueen is still considered the King of Cool, a patron saint for adventurous desperados everywhere.
    — Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 20 Oct. 2026
  • Seghers transforms Cooper into another of her restless desperadoes—a Vietnam vet in quest of an unspoiled world.
    — Alex Ross, New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2026
Definition of desperado
Noun
  • His lacerating wit spares no member of his staff—a mix of true incompetents, off-putting savants, ticking time bombs, and onetime offenders prematurely consigned to professional purgatory.
    — Inkoo Kang, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026
  • Penalties increase if offenders cover their faces or someone is injured.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of offender

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Cite this Entry

“Highwayman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highwayman. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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