as in bandit
formal + old-fashioned
a person who commits robbery usually as part of a group
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Recent Examples of brigand
As did most of the 4,500 caught in the region as feds traveled willy-nilly originally from their base at Naval Station Great Lakes in North Chicago, like roving bands of masked brigands seeking human loot.
—
Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
Then rumors started spreading about armed brigands that would come to town to steal what little harvest folks had left, so towns raised militias to fight back.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 24 Sep. 2025
Captured by brigands, the immigrants are herded into a remote Libyan prison camp where they are tormented and tortured.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb. 2024
Saúl is a brigand while Isabella is a noblewoman, and the tale tells of the couple’s struggle as their families oppose their union.
—Rebecca Ann Hughes, Forbes, 10 Aug. 2022
Scavenger is a brigand Gawain encounters on his journey.
—BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2021
The ruler tops out at seven feet six inches, suggesting an absolutely colossal brigand.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021
Across the pastures, gangs of grandchildren ran like brigands.
—Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Oct. 2019
Looking eastward, the notion that Iran, which took hundreds of thousands of casualties in repelling an Iraqi juggernaut in the 1980s, is going to melt in terror in the face of several thousand ISIS brigands is absurd.
—Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2014
Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 7 Jan. 2026
Then rumors started spreading about armed brigands that would come to town to steal what little harvest folks had left, so towns raised militias to fight back.
—Popular Science Team, Popular Science, 24 Sep. 2025
Captured by brigands, the immigrants are herded into a remote Libyan prison camp where they are tormented and tortured.
—Peter Rainer, The Christian Science Monitor, 22 Feb. 2024
Saúl is a brigand while Isabella is a noblewoman, and the tale tells of the couple’s struggle as their families oppose their union.
—Rebecca Ann Hughes, Forbes, 10 Aug. 2022
Scavenger is a brigand Gawain encounters on his journey.
—BostonGlobe.com, 30 July 2021
The ruler tops out at seven feet six inches, suggesting an absolutely colossal brigand.
—Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2021
Across the pastures, gangs of grandchildren ran like brigands.
—Stanley Stewart, Condé Nast Traveler, 12 Oct. 2019
Looking eastward, the notion that Iran, which took hundreds of thousands of casualties in repelling an Iraqi juggernaut in the 1980s, is going to melt in terror in the face of several thousand ISIS brigands is absurd.
—Steven Simon, Foreign Affairs, 26 Aug. 2014
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brigand
Noun
-
An unusual theft at a Pennsylvania Wawa has police going bananas for a pair of potassium bandits.—
Fernando Cervantes Jr,
USA Today,
8 Apr. 2026
-
Set against mountainous landscapes and rural lakes, the story follows a wandering swordsman who is falsely accused of stealing a shipment of gold and must unravel a web of intrigue involving bandits, palace guards and corrupt officials while attempting to clear his name.—
Lin Ying-Hsuan,
Variety,
18 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
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
-
The sybaritic highwayman Macheath maneuvers between a cutthroat capitalist milieu (Mr. and Mrs. Peachum) and a corrupt police force (led by Tiger Brown) while seducing daughters from both worlds (Polly Peachum and Lucy Brown).—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Our Navy, its creation was actually to free international waters from the Barbary pirates.—
NBC news,
NBC news,
12 Apr. 2026
-
This inland route, protected from sea storms and pirates, enabled travelers to journey safely up and down the coast as if on a modern interstate highway.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
10 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The scheme is designed to identify suspected criminals, combat identity fraud, and to police the EU's limit on 90-day stays within a 180-day period, according to the European Commission.—
Emma Clarke,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Rex Heuermann, the man known as the Gilgo Beach killer, admitted to killing eight women over a span of decades, and the FBI is now looking into what motivated the 62-year-old to carry out his crimes to help capture other criminals in the future.—
Matt Lavietes,
NBC news,
9 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Their efforts lead them in the season’s last two episodes to Paris, where Frank was planning to celebrate his 80th birthday with his children — only for him to be gunned down in a hotel lobby by an assassin who had been sent to kill Teddy for a deal gone wrong.—
Max Gao,
Variety,
11 Apr. 2026
-
Neither of these two is necessarily a lip-sync assassin.—
Jason P. Frank,
Vulture,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The final part tells the story of an outlaw who doesn’t set out to become a legend but ends up one anyway.—
Mars Salazar,
Austin American Statesman,
2 Apr. 2026
-
People being outlaw or bucking the system, whatever the sentiment is.—
Josh Crutchmer,
Rolling Stone,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Preliminary investigation indicated that an unknown offender pulled out a gun and shot into a crowd of people who were standing outside, hitting three of them.—
Jeramie Bizzle,
CBS News,
11 Apr. 2026
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Surprisingly, the worst offenders are often the most traveled.—
Katie Jackson,
Travel + Leisure,
11 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Vargas was taken into custody without incident, the news release said, and has been charged with armed violence, unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon and other weapons- and cannabis-related offenses.—
Aurora Beacon-News,
Chicago Tribune,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Larrel Martin Weathers, 39, was convicted Tuesday in Sacramento Superior Court of second-degree murder, shooting at an inhabited dwelling and being a felon in possession of a firearm in the June 21, 2021, shooting death of Marcellus Cory Baker-Lee.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
8 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Brigand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brigand. Accessed 17 Apr. 2026.
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