as in prisoner
a person convicted as a criminal and serving a prison sentence had spent most of his sorry life as a jailbird in hoosegows across the South

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 jailbird Well, Conan Harris is an ex-con, a jailbird. Howie Carr, Boston Herald, 22 Aug. 2025 Her jumpsuit is a couture twist on the cartoonish striped getup of a jailbird. Jemal Polson, CNN Money, 8 May 2025 Becomes a jailbird at a high-security zoo after he’s caught, with the newest Wallace & Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl, finding Feathers, all these years later, hell-bent on getting even with the duo who locked him up. Devon Ivie, Vulture, 6 Jan. 2025 Twenty years later, an actress named Selma Vaz Dias, who wanted to dramatize Good Morning, Midnight on the radio, found her living in poverty and obscurity in the English countryside with a third husband who also ended an embezzler and a jailbird. Vivian Gornick, The New Republic, 6 Jan. 2023 The jailbird and guard stayed in touch over the phone, according to Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton. Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 11 May 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for jailbird
Noun
  • The Kremlin claims these soldiers are mercenaries — a label that immediately strips them of their combatant rights, protection under international humanitarian law and prisoner-of-war status.
    Rebecca Johns, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025
  • Idaho took another step toward its first execution of a female prisoner after the state’s highest court rejected an appeal Thursday from the only woman on its death row.
    Kevin Fixler September 5, Idaho Statesman, 5 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Stabbings became routine, and in the early 1970s, inmates sued the state over conditions, prompting a federal court to order sweeping reforms.
    Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 4 Sep. 2025
  • Aguilar is one of 72 juvenile inmates housed in a Maricopa County Sheriff's Office facility, according to Dave Moyer, an agency spokesperson.
    Perry Vandell, AZCentral.com, 4 Sep. 2025
Noun
  • Whether exploring the Royal Botanic Garden or watching sunset from Mrs Macquarie’s Chair—hand-carved by convicts in 1810—the city feels luminous, expansive, and just a little wild.
    Lewis Nunn, Forbes.com, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Now, Hulu is adapting her story into a show, with Tell Me Lies star Grace Van Patten playing the former convict.
    Rebecca Aizin, People.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Noun
  • Those logical advantages for the pros column can outweigh some of those in the cons column, such as the perception of new sources of stress.
    Elizabeth Baskin, Forbes.com, 9 Sep. 2025
  • Tatum does stretch his acting abilities in scenes where Jeffrey’s con-man charisma is underlaid with desperation and deception, but there’s nothing in Cianfrance and Kirt Gunn’s screenplay to seriously challenge Tatum’s persona as a leading man.
    Katie Rife, IndieWire, 6 Sep. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Jailbird.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/jailbird. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.

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