as in bandit
old-fashioned
a violent criminal who is not afraid of getting hurt or caught
A documentary about some notorious desperados of the Wild West.
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Recent Examples of desperado
And sometimes the best care is not bringing in a bunch of — as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar put it — a throbbing scum of fame-hungry desperados.
—
Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 31 July 2025
The latter implies that occasionally a few or many desperados enter the Treasury markets, selling everything in sight with an eye on bringing discipline or whatever to Washington.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
The other actors in the terrific eight-member cast — which includes Eddie Cooper, Dashiell Eaves and Ken Marks — play multiple roles as townsfolk, family members, lawmen, desperados, hucksters and suckers.
—Frank Rizzo, Variety, 27 Apr. 2025
Still, the robbery sent an Oklahoma sheriff’s posse and bloodhounds after these bungling desperados.
—Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperado
Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 31 July 2025
The latter implies that occasionally a few or many desperados enter the Treasury markets, selling everything in sight with an eye on bringing discipline or whatever to Washington.
—John Tamny, Forbes.com, 25 May 2025
The other actors in the terrific eight-member cast — which includes Eddie Cooper, Dashiell Eaves and Ken Marks — play multiple roles as townsfolk, family members, lawmen, desperados, hucksters and suckers.
—Frank Rizzo, Variety, 27 Apr. 2025
Still, the robbery sent an Oklahoma sheriff’s posse and bloodhounds after these bungling desperados.
—Mara Bovsun, New York Daily News, 8 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for desperado
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperado
Noun
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Fleeing into the desert with her father, she is hunted by a merciless army and forced to trust a legendary bandit (Mackie) with secrets of his own.—
Mark Meszoros,
Twin Cities,
25 Apr. 2026
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The movie is understood to follow a sheriff and a doctor who seek revenge against a group of bandits who use the cover of a torrential thunderstorm to rob and terrorize the occupants of a small town.—
Justin Kroll,
Deadline,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In its earlier days, The Boys might have done something with how Nanjiani’s Eternals and Rogen’s The Green Hornet both underperformed, and the Kick-Ass movies in which Mintz-Plasse played a villain left little cultural footprint.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
29 Apr. 2026
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Most of his videos, filmed in a local studio or sometimes on the streets of Charlotte, are high-quality shorts showing him in throes of battle with classic villains like Killer Croc or Bane.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Court records show Abugharbieh entered into a diversion program for first-time offenders charged with misdemeanors.—
Holly Ramer,
Los Angeles Times,
25 Apr. 2026
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Per the alert, surveillance footage showed that in each of the incidents, one offender gained access by breaking into several vehicle windows and then proceeding to remove valuable items inside the cars.—
Claire Murphy,
Chicago Tribune,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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One untitled work from 1994 shows a strange monster—a guard bent over, gazing back at us between his own legs, his upside-down grin framed by his jackboots.—
Ben Davis,
The New York Review of Books,
25 Apr. 2026
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The Browns, who have openly admitted regret over the monster trade and deal, restructured his contract last month for a third time in roughly a yearlong span.—
Ryan Morik,
FOXNews.com,
25 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Chelsea and City will meet in the FA Cup final after a beast of a hit from Nico Gonzalez (above) saw City through their semi against Southampton on Saturday.—
Phil Hay,
New York Times,
27 Apr. 2026
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Noah Centineo gives his beast mean mug while at Paramount Pictures' presentation at CinemaCon on April 16.—
Toria Sheffield,
PEOPLE,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The rest of the ’70s saw the outlaw country movement in full swing, with Jennings and Nelson rising to household names.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2026
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David Allan Coe, a country singer and songwriter known for his outlaw music in the 1970s and 80s, has died.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
30 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Desperado.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperado. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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