as in brigand
a man especially in the past who stopped travelers on roads and robbed them
Related Words
Relevance
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 highwayman
Shortly before midnight on May 23, 1798, highwaymen just north of Dublin intercepted and set on fire a mail coach headed to Belfast.
—
Joseph Patrick Kelly, The Conversation, 20 May 2025
The sybaritic highwayman Macheath maneuvers between a cutthroat capitalist milieu (Mr. and Mrs. Peachum) and a corrupt police force (led by Tiger Brown) while seducing daughters from both worlds (Polly Peachum and Lucy Brown).
—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
In the irreverent retelling of the 18th-century highwayman’s life, Turpin is the most famous but least likely of robbers, whose success is defined mostly by his charm, showmanship, and great hair.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2025
Written by Fielding, Richard Naylor and Jon Brittain, the series followed the contemptuous life of the 18th-century highwayman, known in York, England, as a thief, poacher and killer but whose exploits have been widely romanticized in modern culture.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Jan. 2025
Dick Turpin was an English robber and highwayman whose criminal activities gained him notoriety in the early eighteenth century.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 14 Jan. 2025
The group gets further assistance from a charming aristocratic dandy/secret highwayman named Charles Devereaux (Frank Dillane).
—Ars Technica, 24 Dec. 2024
He is captured by Bedouin highwaymen, who plan to rob him.
—Steve Hindy, Foreign Affairs, 27 Aug. 2015
Joseph Patrick Kelly, The Conversation, 20 May 2025
The sybaritic highwayman Macheath maneuvers between a cutthroat capitalist milieu (Mr. and Mrs. Peachum) and a corrupt police force (led by Tiger Brown) while seducing daughters from both worlds (Polly Peachum and Lucy Brown).
—Alex Ross, New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2025
In the irreverent retelling of the 18th-century highwayman’s life, Turpin is the most famous but least likely of robbers, whose success is defined mostly by his charm, showmanship, and great hair.
—Jake Kanter, Deadline, 16 Jan. 2025
Written by Fielding, Richard Naylor and Jon Brittain, the series followed the contemptuous life of the 18th-century highwayman, known in York, England, as a thief, poacher and killer but whose exploits have been widely romanticized in modern culture.
—Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Jan. 2025
Dick Turpin was an English robber and highwayman whose criminal activities gained him notoriety in the early eighteenth century.
—Ben Morse, CNN, 14 Jan. 2025
The group gets further assistance from a charming aristocratic dandy/secret highwayman named Charles Devereaux (Frank Dillane).
—Ars Technica, 24 Dec. 2024
He is captured by Bedouin highwaymen, who plan to rob him.
—Steve Hindy, Foreign Affairs, 27 Aug. 2015
Recent Examples of Synonyms for highwayman
Noun
-
Then rumors started spreading about armed brigands that would come to town to steal what little harvest folks had left, so towns raised militias to fight back.—
Popular Science Team,
Popular Science,
24 Sep. 2025
-
Captured by brigands, the immigrants are herded into a remote Libyan prison camp where they are tormented and tortured.—
Peter Rainer,
The Christian Science Monitor,
22 Feb. 2024
Noun
-
Security analyst Nnamdi Obasi, a senior adviser at the International Crisis Group think tank, explained that while extremist groups have wreaked havoc against both Christians and Muslims in the northeast of Nigeria, bandit groups have terrorized predominantly Muslim communities in the northwest.—
Nimi Princewill,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
-
The country has faced years of bloodshed from Boko Haram militants and armed bandits, whose motives are often linked more to territorial control and ransom than to religion.—
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
31 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
These oil fields basically are pirate operations.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
4 Jan. 2026
-
Notorious pirate Jean Lafitte frequented neighboring Grand Terre Island in the early 1800s.—
Kristy Christiansen,
Southern Living,
31 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
The government doesn't like to as a rule, like showcase of assassin artifacts.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Presidential assassins and all this dark stuff.—
Seth Abramovitch,
HollywoodReporter,
3 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
In other court cases, some civil and some criminal, involving a total of nearly 300 additional hectares near Vlora, Shehu and his family members are accused of grabbing property through similar forgeries.—
Lindita Cela,
Miami Herald,
7 Nov. 2025
-
The trio has a surprisingly good theory about the implosion of the makeshift Astral Pulse; seems like Shroud never found the original, and someone has been outfitting low-level criminals with bootlegs that are going awry like Robert’s.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The Wolfpack hired noted NCAA outlaw Will Wade.—
Jim Root,
New York Times,
3 Nov. 2025
-
There’s a certain unpredictability and fleet-footedness required to play this budding outlaw, and the actor can’t convey any excitement in the part.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
These are desperadoes in the White House.—
Anne Thompson,
IndieWire,
26 Nov. 2025
-
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
Noun
-
Boardman imposed a sentence of 97 months, citing Roske’s mental health and concerns about incarceration conditions and his status as a first-time criminal offender.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
8 Jan. 2026
-
Since 2013, the law has allowed juvenile offenders serving life without parole to petition to have their sentence recalled and to be resentenced.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Highwayman.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highwayman. Accessed 9 Jan. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share