vigilante

noun

vig·​i·​lan·​te ˌvi-jə-ˈlan-tē 

: a member of a volunteer committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily (as when the processes of law are viewed as inadequate)

broadly : a self-appointed doer of justice

vigilantism

ˌvi-jə-ˈlan-ˌti-zəm 

noun

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The Meaning and Origin of Vigilante

Vigilante entered English in the 19th century, borrowed from the Spanish word of the same spelling which meant “watchman, guard” in that language. The Spanish word can be traced back to the Latin vigilare, meaning “to keep awake.” The earliest use of the word in English was to refer to a member of a vigilance committee, a committee organized to suppress and punish crime summarily, as when the processes of law appear inadequate. The word may often be found in an attributive role, as in the phrases “vigilante justice,” or “vigilante group.” In this slightly broadened sense it carries the suggestion of the enforcement of laws without regard to due process or the general rule of law.

Synonyms

• avenger
• castigator
• chastiser
• nemesis
• punisher
• scourge

Examples of vigilante in a Sentence

the danger of these self-appointed vigilantes is that they sometimes go after innocent people

Recent Examples on the Web

Critics said Rittenhouse had no right to fire his weapon and was illegally acting as a vigilante militia. —USA TODAY, 24 Apr. 2024

His silence provided tacit backing as vigilante groups continued to target non-Hindu minority groups and as members of his party routinely used hateful and racist language, even in Parliament, against the largest of those groups, India’s 200 million Muslims. —Mujib Mashal, New York Times, 23 Apr. 2024

Photograph: Devin Christopher A little over two years have passed since the online vigilante who would call himself P4x fired the first shot in his own one-man cyberwar. —Andy Greenberg, WIRED, 4 Apr. 2024

Almost a year ago, a group of Port-au-Prince residents lynched and set fire to around a dozen men believed to be gang members launching what became known as the Bwa Kale movement, a vigilante justice movement that rights groups say has sometimes been carried out with members of Haiti’s police. —Fredlyn Pierre Louis, NBC News, 21 Mar. 2024

Yet the bond vigilante crowd doesn’t tend to believe in miracles of the sort to which Taleb refers. —William Pesek, Forbes, 16 Feb. 2024

Advertisement Nine million Black Americans subjected to the domestic terror of Jim Crow-era violence that left justice in the hands of racist vigilantes. —Anita Chabria, Los Angeles Times, 4 Apr. 2024

Scared and angry, vigilante groups are blocking off their neighborhoods with felled trees and chains, killing and burning outsiders suspected of gang membership. —Caitlin Stephen Hu, CNN, 21 Mar. 2024

Gangs have laid siege to Port-au-Prince's airport, and warfare between the criminal groups, the country's beleaguered authorities and bands of vigilantes have made traveling by road treacherous. —Shannon K. Crawford, ABC News, 20 Mar. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Spanish, watchman, guard, from vigilante vigilant, from Latin vigilant-, vigilans

First Known Use

1856, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

vigilante

noun

vig·​i·​lan·​te ˌvij-ə-ˈlant-ē 

: a member of a group of volunteers who decide on their own to stop crime and to punish criminals