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 After smashing his drive, Weekley grabbed his driver like a rodeo cowboy and galloped down the fairway, mimicking a bull ride in full Happy Gilmore style. Devlina Sarkar, MSNBC Newsweek, 22 Sep. 2025 The Bowie House was opened in 2023 in the Cultural District, where there is a vibrant equestrian scene that calls to mind the days when cowboys and cattle once roamed the area. Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 19 Sep. 2025 The other principal actor, Bill Paxton, died in 2017, but his co-stars shared plenty of memories of the boisterous man described as a cowboy with the soul of an artist. Aaron Couch, HollywoodReporter, 19 Sep. 2025 Bighorn Scenic Byway Wyoming Embrace your inner cowboy with a drive along the Bighorn Scenic Byway, which takes you over the crest of the Big Horn Mountains and to spots like the city of Sheridan, where New West meets Old West in the historic downtown. Beth Luberecki, USA Today, 6 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for cowboy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowboy
Noun
  • The Player’s Guide details how to build a character, whether its just a common cowpoke or one of the more unusual options like a huckster or blessed.
    Rob Wieland, Forbes.com, 29 May 2025
  • 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
Noun
  • There are plenty of places to take a horse, with experienced cowhands to guide the way.
    Jenny Peters, Oc Register, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Now, the ranch is proactively using drones equipped with speakers and bright lights as stand-in cowhands, WSJ reported.
    Rachel Raposas, People.com, 5 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Joe worked as a cowpuncher in Flagler, Colo., making $150 a day tending to cattle on horseback.
    Jose A. Del Real, Washington Post, 6 Nov. 2022
Noun
  • There are muddy buckaroo boots worn by some lucky child, and the tiny boots of Major Lynn White (1838-1915), then the world’s smallest man.
    Sandra Dallas, Denver Post, 3 Sep. 2025
  • 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
  • The rancher began to suspect that all white vapor trails from aircraft might be dangerous.
    Stephanie Armour, CNN Money, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Coe, a rancher, lives a few miles from the 111-year-old county courthouse in Alturas, where every seat in the court chamber has a rack for cowboy hats.
    Bloomberg, Mercury News, 15 Oct. 2025
Noun
  • Three horsemen burst forth from the ranch, setting off a flurry of gunfire.
    Davis Winkie, USA Today, 14 Oct. 2025
  • Instead, their only aim is to protect themselves, which is precisely how the second horseman arrives.
    Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Cowboy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowboy. Accessed 24 Oct. 2025.

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