desperadoes

noun

variants or desperados
plural of desperado
as in bandits
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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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 desperadoes Most are not desperados on the run. — William Morris, Des Moines Register, 4 Mar. 2026 These are desperadoes in the White House. — Anne Thompson, IndieWire, 26 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperadoes
  1. bandits
  2. offenders
  3. villains
  4. beasts
  5. monsters
Noun
  • One Arab American man later recalled that his great-grandfather, who pursued a similar route, never made it to the Midwest—his train was stopped by a group of bandits from Mexico who forced the passengers to hand over their belongings.
    — Rozina Ali, New Yorker, 21 Aug. 2026
  • The train was sitting just outside a depot in Memphis when the bandits made their move.
    — Kiel Porter, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of bandits
Noun
  • Laws regarding incarceration of youthful offenders — age 25 or younger at the time of the crime — have evolved since the siblings were tried.
    — Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Aug. 2026
  • From names like ChatGPT and Gemini to Meta AI, Perplexity, and even Grok, the report identifies which chatbots are the most privacy-friendly and transparent in their practices and which are the worst offenders.
    — Alan Henry, PC Magazine, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of offenders
Noun
  • The ’90s were an era of event villains, characters who came preinstalled with their own company-wide impact.
    — Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 24 Aug. 2026
  • Anthony Hopkins has played villains and popes, presidents and dictators, titans of literature and comic book kings.
    — Melissa Ruggieri, USA Today, 20 Aug. 2026
Definition of villains
Noun
  • Headline writers like to use words like menageries and beasts to describe it.
    — Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 21 Aug. 2026
  • Mythical Creatures, designed by Kit Kemp of London’s Firmdale Hotels, is a playful take on fine bone china that comes decorated with folk-art birds and beasts, then finished with a gold rim Kemp customizes herself.
    — Angela Tafoya, Architectural Digest, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of beasts
Noun
  • About those monsters Green mentioned, each can features a comic book-style class movie monster.
    — Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The new toys feature combinations of Sanrio Hello Kitty characters and monsters from the Godzilla films.
    — Chiara Kim, PEOPLE, 19 Aug. 2026
Definition of monsters

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Cite this Entry

“Desperadoes.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperadoes. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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