highwaymen

noun

plural of highwayman
as in bandits
a man especially in the past who stopped travelers on roads and robbed them

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for highwaymen
  1. bandits
  2. brigands
  3. criminals
  4. pirates
  5. desperadoes
  6. offenders
  7. assassins
  8. ruffians
Noun
  • Armed groups, known as bandits in Nigeria, regularly carry out raids and kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and north-central parts of the country.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 6 Aug. 2026
  • The area was wild and uninhabited, but the bandits moved through it with practiced ease.
    — Alexis Okeowo, New Yorker, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of bandits
Noun
  • Their captors beset by these foreign brigands, Larys and Aegon manage to escape.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 29 June 2026
  • Their stories live on in Sardinian lore with an almost mythical quality, the brigands admired for their intractability.
    — IEEE Spectrum, IEEE Spectrum, 7 May 2026
Definition of brigands
Noun
  • North Carolina politician says Democrats are coddling criminals Records also list a September 2025 simple-assault charge and a March 2025 charge of assault on a female.
    — Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • Even if Anna Pigeon carries a gun with cuffs, as real-life law enforcement rangers do, there's much more to the job and character than chasing down criminals.
    — Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of criminals
Noun
  • But the island was also a haven for outcasts and pirates and merchants, from across Europe and the Levant and beyond, who came to the Caribbean to seek their fortunes or to help grow the fortunes of others.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 5 Aug. 2026
  • The voyage started with 350 captives; almost all died or were kidnapped a second time by pirates.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 4 Aug. 2026
Definition of pirates
Noun
  • 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
Definition of desperadoes
Noun
  • This high-security prison is a sprawling complex that houses thousands of detainees, including notorious gangsters, terrorists and prominent white-collar offenders.
    — Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Based upon their replies, occupying Allied officials ranked their culpability, then tried the worst offenders — most famously in the Nuremberg trials, but also in numerous local tribunals.
    — Fern Schumer Chapman, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of offenders
Noun
  • Many of Ellis’s most awful characters are the most conventionally attractive, their looks serving as a shield against their various crimes; Murphy co-created The Beauty, in which tech moguls and assassins kill to be beautiful.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Aug. 2026
  • Authorities were seeking both the assassins and masterminds of the crime, according to the president.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of assassins
Noun
  • The series has lent a cinematic gangster attraction to the Peaky Blinders, yet the term itself was not one gang — as depicted in the show — but a generic expression from the late 19th century for the ‘street ruffians’ of Birmingham, born out of the city’s ring of poverty.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2026
  • In fact, the GTW ruffians have to give the Big Honey some props for his relative restraint in the heat of the moment.
    — Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 28 Feb. 2026
Definition of ruffians
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.

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highwayman
highwaymen
highway robbery
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Cite this Entry

“Highwaymen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/highwaymen. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026.

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