highway robbery

Definition of highway robberynext
as in extortion
the exaction of a grossly excessive charge for goods or services what some rock superstars charge for concert tickets is simply highway robbery

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 highway robbery In March 1829, he was convicted in London on two counts of highway robbery and sentenced to fourteen years. Literary Hub, 10 July 2026 Three games into his Colorado Rapids tenure, the club paying $125,000 in General Allocation Money — less than the going price of an international roster slot — is looking like highway robbery. Braidon Nourse, Denver Post, 14 Sep. 2025 This was a dangerous situation and was literally highway robbery. U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 21 July 2025 Hospitals have gotten away with this sort of highway robbery for years, thanks to a combination of consolidation and misleading arguments. Craig M. Wax, Boston Herald, 13 June 2025 To me, one meant highway robbery and the other meant equal pain, equal pleasure. Jim Cramer, CNBC, 16 Apr. 2025 This highway robbery of our funds directly out of our bank account is a betrayal of everyone who calls New York City home. Maria Ramirez Uribe, Austin American Statesman, 10 Feb. 2025 The Nets‘ famous offseason trade with the Knicks — centered around Mikal Bridges — looks more like highway robbery each day. C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025 Jerry showed no sign of clocking their absence, though Bill wasn’t watching too closely—an act of moral highway robbery, maybe, but what was depredation if not an escape from the mundane? Hazlitt, 9 Dec. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for highway robbery
Noun
  • The group has shifted its loyalties and alliances to consolidate its regional control of the territory through extortion.
    María Verza, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026
  • Baldoni denied the allegations and filed a $400 million countersuit accusing Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and Lively's publicist of defamation and extortion.
    Declan Gallagher, Entertainment Weekly, 15 July 2026
Noun
  • Despite multiple requests from test takers and lawmakers, the DMV has not provided any details about the nature of the alleged cheating, and some of those who must take the test over feel like they’ve been unfairly accused.
    Clara Harter, Los Angeles Times, 16 July 2026
  • But that successful act of cheating is central to Maradona’s legend, as is his defiance in the aftermath.
    Ishaan Tharoor, New Yorker, 16 July 2026
Noun
  • Other advantages include the fact that ownership of compute may reduce dependency on price fluctuations and gouging.
    Forbes.com, Forbes.com, 27 June 2026
  • But the buildup to America’s first time hosting the World Cup since 1994 has been nonstop controversy, from exorbitant ticket cost and price-gouging for public transportation to our country’s far-right immigration policies scaring away many would-be visitors.
    Greg Cote June 10, Miami Herald, 10 June 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Highway robbery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highway%20robbery. Accessed 22 Jul. 2026.

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