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
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of highway robbery
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
At the airport sushi counter, where prices are no more offensive than the highway robbery over rubbery personal pizzas and gigantic pretzels, a confident—and meager—crowd silently communes over their unassuming California rolls.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 June 2024
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
At the airport sushi counter, where prices are no more offensive than the highway robbery over rubbery personal pizzas and gigantic pretzels, a confident—and meager—crowd silently communes over their unassuming California rolls.
—Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 June 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for highway robbery
Noun
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Noboa has spent the past two years targeting cocaine traffickers, but the rates of associated crimes including murders, disappearances and extortion have not fallen.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
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Despite that, the armed groups have continued to wreak havoc, collecting millions of dollars in extortion fees from toll roads and their control of strategic corridors leading to the country’s seaports and land border with the neighboring Dominican Republic.—
Jacqueline Charles,
Miami Herald,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
There is no rampant cheating or election fraud in California.—
Mark Z. Barabak,
Mercury News,
26 Mar. 2026
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Research shows that artificial intelligence tools can support learning, but also has raised concerns, including students’ overreliance, cheating, and the potential degradation of critical thinking and engagement.—
Jeanne Beatrix Law,
The Conversation,
26 Mar. 2026
Noun
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President Lee Jae Myung also advised his government to crack down on oil refinery companies and gas stations to prevent price-gouging while making efforts to secure supply ships that do not pass through the Strait of Hormuz.—
Rhea Mogul,
CNN Money,
13 Mar. 2026
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The public better wake up, because the creativity of the MTA, and Hochul’s gouging of a disinterested and unwise public, have no limits.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
8 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Highway robbery.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highway%20robbery. Accessed 1 Apr. 2026.
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