highway robbery

noun

1
: robbery committed on or near a public highway usually against travelers
2
: excessive profit or advantage derived from a business transaction

Examples of highway robbery in a Sentence

Charging that much to see a movie is highway robbery! what some rock superstars charge for concert tickets is simply highway robbery
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Three games into his Colorado Rapids tenure, the club paying $125,000 in General Allocation Money — less than the going price of an international roster slot — is looking like highway robbery. Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 14 Sep. 2025 This was a dangerous situation and was literally highway robbery. U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 July 2025 Hospitals have gotten away with this sort of highway robbery for years, thanks to a combination of consolidation and misleading arguments. Craig M. Wax, Boston Herald, 13 June 2025 To me, one meant highway robbery and the other meant equal pain, equal pleasure. Jim Cramer, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2025 This highway robbery of our funds directly out of our bank account is a betrayal of everyone who calls New York City home. Maria Ramirez Uribe, Austin American Statesman, 10 Feb. 2025 The Nets‘ famous offseason trade with the Knicks — centered around Mikal Bridges — looks more like highway robbery each day. C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025 Jerry showed no sign of clocking their absence, though Bill wasn’t watching too closely—an act of moral highway robbery, maybe, but what was depredation if not an escape from the mundane? Hazlitt, 9 Dec. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of highway robbery was in 1611

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Highway robbery.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/highway%20robbery. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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