as in cowhands
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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Recent Examples of cowboys
Pirates or western cowboys are just a couple of the outfit themes.
—
Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
And also on Untucked… • The girls hang out with the cowboys, and everyone agrees that the whole episode was a ton of fun.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2026
There are songs about whiskey, Saturday night, and Daytona; tunes about cowboys, loneliness, and everlasting love.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 20 Mar. 2026
And if climbing arborists are tree cowboys, climbing competitions are their rodeos.
—Calin Van Paris, Outside, 19 Mar. 2026
The collection reinterprets iconic Lee silhouettes like the Storm Rider jacket, a style that dates to 1948 when it was originally designed and advertised to cowboys.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 19 Mar. 2026
Their ancestors started the ride during segregation nearly 70 years earlier, when the first group of seven Black cowboys needed an armed guard at trail’s end to enter Memorial Park.
—Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026
Typically set in the mid-to-late-1800s on the American frontier, these films often feature characters who make their own rules, from bounty hunters and cowboys to outlaws in lawless territories.
—Sezin Devi Keohler, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Mar. 2026
The Baqueano Cultural Experience is a highlight, with Patagonian cowboys and cowgirls providing visitors a peek into their life, teaching them how to saddle and ride horses before sitting down for some maté herbal tea and pumpkin bread with fresh salsa.
—Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 3 Mar. 2026
Kathleen Wong, USA Today, 22 Mar. 2026
And also on Untucked… • The girls hang out with the cowboys, and everyone agrees that the whole episode was a ton of fun.
—Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 21 Mar. 2026
There are songs about whiskey, Saturday night, and Daytona; tunes about cowboys, loneliness, and everlasting love.
—Stephen Thomas Erlewine, Pitchfork, 20 Mar. 2026
And if climbing arborists are tree cowboys, climbing competitions are their rodeos.
—Calin Van Paris, Outside, 19 Mar. 2026
The collection reinterprets iconic Lee silhouettes like the Storm Rider jacket, a style that dates to 1948 when it was originally designed and advertised to cowboys.
—Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 19 Mar. 2026
Their ancestors started the ride during segregation nearly 70 years earlier, when the first group of seven Black cowboys needed an armed guard at trail’s end to enter Memorial Park.
—Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Washington Post, 19 Mar. 2026
Typically set in the mid-to-late-1800s on the American frontier, these films often feature characters who make their own rules, from bounty hunters and cowboys to outlaws in lawless territories.
—Sezin Devi Keohler, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Mar. 2026
The Baqueano Cultural Experience is a highlight, with Patagonian cowboys and cowgirls providing visitors a peek into their life, teaching them how to saddle and ride horses before sitting down for some maté herbal tea and pumpkin bread with fresh salsa.
—Catherine Garcia, TheWeek, 3 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowboys
cowhands
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
Cite this Entry
“Cowboys.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowboys. Accessed 29 Mar. 2026.
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