brigand

noun

Definition of brigandnext
as in bandit
formal + old-fashioned a person who commits robbery usually as part of a group

Related Words

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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 brigand 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 The French-language film begins in Spain circa 1845, when Antonio, the blind knife-sharpener, returns to Seville to the great delight of local brigands and soldiers, whose blades have grown dull in his absence. — David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 21 May 2026 Their stories live on in Sardinian lore with an almost mythical quality, the brigands admired for their intractability. — IEEE Spectrum, 7 May 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 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
  1. bandit
  2. highwayman
  3. pirate
  4. criminal
  5. assassin
  6. outlaw
  7. offender
  8. felon
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
  • 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
Definition of highwayman
Noun
  • In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the actor explained what would be his motivating factor to don the pirate hat again.
    — Lexy Perez, HollywoodReporter, 3 Nov. 2026
  • By August, pirates had hijacked six commercial vessels since April, some far from Somalia’s coast.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of pirate
Noun
  • The 83-year-old Mann is known for directing gritty crime stories, many of which look at cops and criminals and are set in urban landscapes.
    — Brent Lang, IndieWire, 1 Nov. 2026
  • If a criminal still controls the sender's inbox, that person could potentially intercept the question and send a reassuring answer.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 1 Nov. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • The Democratic presidential front-runner had just finished his California primary victory speech — thanking Chávez and Huerta — when an assassin gunned him down.
    — James Rainey, Los Angeles Times, 28 Oct. 2026
  • Nearly all of those 80 teams had a wing player who was either a prolific scorer, an in-his-prime All-Star, an accomplished floor general or a skilled shot creator/late-game assassin.
    — Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026
Definition of assassin
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
  • Schneider says royal ferns are known for doing this in the garden, while Jose Lopez, owner and founder of Williams Landscaping Chicago, says ostrich ferns and lady ferns are other common offenders.
    — The Spruce, The Spruce, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Since taking office, the Governor has funded law enforcement at record levels and strengthened bail and discovery laws to hold all violent offenders accountable.
    — Kelsie Cairns , Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of offender
Noun
  • Two years after a jury made Donald Trump the first president to enter office as a felon, a New York appeals court is considering his bid to throw out his criminal hush money conviction.
    — Aaron Katersky, ABC News, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Demby faces a federal charge of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
    — Shambhavi Rimal, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Nov. 2026
Definition of felon

Browse Nearby Words

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Cite this Entry

“Brigand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brigand. Accessed 9 Nov. 2026.

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