shepherdesses

noun

plural of shepherdess
as in shepherds

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for shepherdesses
  1. cowboys
  2. cowhands
  3. herdsmen
Noun
  • Despite Villa Domínguez’s nine remaining Jews, the museum remains an important part of the town, tracing the history of Argentinian Jewish ranchers, farmers and the cowboys known as gauchos.
    — Hikmat Mohammed, ARTnews.com, 20 Oct. 2026
  • At the same time, Harris, closer in age to his part than the women, moves and sounds like the old cowboys, with an affecting note of sorrow — the lion dying, and dying with regrets — sounding throughout his performance.
    — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 19 Oct. 2026
Definition of cowboys
Noun
  • There are plenty of places to take a horse, with experienced cowhands to guide the way.
    — Jenny Peters, Oc Register, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Now, the ranch is proactively using drones equipped with speakers and bright lights as stand-in cowhands, WSJ reported.
    — Rachel Raposas, People.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Definition of cowhands
Noun
  • The military has also been stretched by efforts to combat armed gangs carrying out mass kidnappings for ransom, and fighting between semi-nomadic herdsmen and settled farmers in states across the center of the country.
    — Alexander Onukwue, semafor.com, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The alphorn is a long wooden instrument traditionally used by herdsmen in the Alps.
    — Jez Fielder, Fortune, 30 June 2026
Definition of herdsmen
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.

Browse Nearby Words

shepherdess
shepherdesses
shepherding
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Shepherdesses.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shepherdesses. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All