brigand

noun

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

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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
  • Leonard, who made tens of millions in off-the-books, no-show endorsements, made out like a bandit with this settlement, especially since his $51 million contract for the coming season was not voided.
    — John Hollinger, New York Times, 3 Sep. 2026
  • Analysts warn each ransom payment fuels more crime as armed groups, from rural bandits to Islamist militants, raid schools, mosques and villages, with an average of 21 kidnappings reported daily.
    — Dyepkazah Shibayan, Los Angeles Times, 27 Aug. 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
  • Here’s a first look at Paramount+‘s upcoming pirate drama Treasure Island.
    — Jesse Whittock, Deadline, 9 Sep. 2026
  • In Tampa, Almand rode around the Buccaneers stadium wielding a Bucs flag and got to visit their famed pirate ship.
    — Zack Rosenblatt, New York Times, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of pirate
Noun
  • Most crimes across Mexico went unsolved, and authorities sometimes appeared to be colluding with criminals instead of fighting them.
    — Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Keeping email, downloads and everyday web activity away from that machine reduces the opportunities criminals have to reach it.
    — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 6 Sep. 2026
Definition of criminal
Noun
  • Before Atlanta, the girls weren’t judged as heavily based on their reads or confessional assassin abilities.
    — Ile-Ife Okantah, Vulture, 7 Sep. 2026
  • As the President sat down to eat with the press corps, a would-be assassin stormed through a security checkpoint before being subdued by the Secret Service.
    — Antonia Hitchens, New Yorker, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of assassin
Noun
  • Many Germans had believed their country had developed an immunity to nationalism and assertions of racial superiority after confronting the horrors of its Nazi past through education and laws to outlaw persecution.
    — Kirsten Grieshaber, Fortune, 7 Sep. 2026
  • His music is kind of a blend between outlaw country and country rock.
    — David Hookstead OutKick, FOXNews.com, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of outlaw
Noun
  • First-time targeting offenders do not receive any additional sanctions.
    — Gary Bedore, Kansas City Star, 5 Sep. 2026
  • Most of the offenders, too, appear to be delis and bodegas and fast-casual food carts, venues where quality is secondary to moving product quickly and cheaply out the door.
    — Brady Brickner-Wood, New Yorker, 2 Sep. 2026
Definition of offender
Noun
  • Michael Angel Alvarez, a gang intervention worker in the MacArthur Park area, was federally indicted on charges of being a felon in possession of body armor in May.
    — James Queally, Los Angeles Times, 9 Sep. 2026
  • Miller is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and a count of possession of a machine gun.
    — Ben Wheeler, Kansas City Star, 8 Sep. 2026
Definition of felon

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Cite this Entry

“Brigand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brigand. Accessed 14 Sep. 2026.

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