as in cowpoke
a hired hand who tends cattle or horses at a ranch or on the range cowboys were rounding up the cattle for branding

Synonyms & Similar 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 cowboy Plus, there’s a fascinating element of both cowboy and Native American cultures… as well as Jackson’s reputation as a tax haven for the super-rich. Elise Taylor, Vogue, 7 Apr. 2025 Visit the historic downtown and museums about cowboys, the Osage Nation, and pioneer life. Valerie Fraser Luesse, Southern Living, 21 Apr. 2025 The characters fall neatly into shopworn archetypes — strong silent cowboy, too-slick businessman, bad boy with a heart of gold, etc. — and are easy to root for in the sense that none of them are interesting enough to be worth rooting against. Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 17 Apr. 2025 Brokeback Mountain starred Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as ranch hand Ennis Del Mar and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist, who begin a 20-year love affair while herding sheep together in 1963. Glenn Garner, Deadline, 4 Apr. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cowboy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowboy
Noun
  • It’s been ten weeks since the robbery, and Theresa and Shermy the dog are the last two urban cowpokes standing at the old makeshift homestead motel.
    Andy Andersen, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025
  • Younger kids can choose from a selection of small plates portioned for cowpokes.
    Outside Online, Outside Online, 17 July 2024
Noun
  • Things are also taking a turn for the worse in Texas, where Runs His Horse successfully tracks down the ranch cowhands that interrupted Pete and Teonna’s tryst.
    Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 9 Mar. 2025
  • The term Cowboy became widely popular for the trade and subsequently was whitewashed to then exclude Black cowhands from the history books.
    Stephanie Tharpe, Forbes, 25 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • The Supreme Court had already decided that yes, indeed, Texas — which spent a hundred million buckaroos a year on California produce — could throw up its own quarantine on Golden State goods.
    Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2024
  • The group disqualifies him, however, after researchers discover his buckaroo abilities are limited to wearing expensive Stetson hats and tripping on his lasso.
    Gustavo ArellanoColumnist, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2022
Noun
  • The picture-perfect cowman’s paradise of Stockyards City is true to its stripes—and nowhere is this more evident than in Cattlemen’s Steakhouse.
    Lisa Cericola, Southern Living, 29 Mar. 2025
  • The reply of my friend and hunting companion was one of those quaint, rasping epithets which only a cowman can manage when everything has gone wrong.
    Frank C. Hibben, Outdoor Life, 27 Feb. 2025
Noun
  • Buford, an Anatolian Pyrenees, brought a missing toddler to safety after a night in the remote wilderness On April 15, a two-year-old Arizona toddler was led to safety by a rancher's dog after the boy spent a night alone in the remote wilderness.
    Colson Thayer, People.com, 21 Apr. 2025
  • Shooting near Crowley district elementary school closes campus to students → Texas cattle ranchers have reasons to fear tariffs [Get our breaking news alerts.
    Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 18 Apr. 2025
Noun
  • The four horsemen of Big Tech — Apple, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft — all report earnings this week, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.
    Catherine Baab, Quartz, 29 Apr. 2025
  • That frontier epic, set at the turn of the 20th century, followed three horsemen who set out across the Tierra del Fuego archipelago tasked with securing a wealthy landowner’s vast property.
    Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 1 Apr. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Cowboy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowboy. Accessed 6 May. 2025.

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