as in bandit
old-fashioned
a violent criminal who is not afraid of getting hurt or caught
A documentary about some notorious desperados of the Wild West.
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Recent Examples of desperado
The respectfully flirtatious dynamic between Cobby and his friend’s shrink feels more formulaic, but effective enough, as Dr. Rivera’s presence gives these two desperados (one of whom was badly shot during the robbery) reason to live.
—
Peter Debruge, Variety, 1 Aug. 2024
The true story of the formerly enslaved man who became the first Black deputy U.S. marshal comes to life on Lawmen: Bass Reeves, an eight-episode series starring David Oyelowo as the storied gunslinger who arrested some 3,000 desperados without ever suffering a single wound.
—EW.com, 5 Nov. 2023
Actually, the two would-be desperadoes might have fared better going up against the late, great action star.
—Joe Leydon, Variety, 3 Aug. 2023
The series revival, based Elmore Leonard’s novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, has Givens on a collision course with Clement Mansell — aka The Oklahoma Wildman — a desperado played by Boyd Holbrook, who’s already eluded a Motor City police task force on his heels.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for desperado
Peter Debruge, Variety, 1 Aug. 2024
The true story of the formerly enslaved man who became the first Black deputy U.S. marshal comes to life on Lawmen: Bass Reeves, an eight-episode series starring David Oyelowo as the storied gunslinger who arrested some 3,000 desperados without ever suffering a single wound.
—EW.com, 5 Nov. 2023
Actually, the two would-be desperadoes might have fared better going up against the late, great action star.
—Joe Leydon, Variety, 3 Aug. 2023
The series revival, based Elmore Leonard’s novel City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit, has Givens on a collision course with Clement Mansell — aka The Oklahoma Wildman — a desperado played by Boyd Holbrook, who’s already eluded a Motor City police task force on his heels.
—Etan Vlessing, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for desperado
Recent Examples of Synonyms for desperado
Noun
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Riri joins their band of bandits — hacker Slug (Shea Couleé), pyrotechnic master Clown (Sonia Denis), enforcers Jeri (Zoe Terakes) and Roz (Shakira Barrera) aka the Blood Siblings.—
Ronda Racha Penrice,
HollywoodReporter,
11 July 2025
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The article, published in the July issue of Maguire Magazine, questions whether the bandit Jasper Gunn ever existed in the first place.—
Hazlitt,
Hazlitt,
18 June 2025
Noun
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Serial killers with a code, far-future space operas, superheroes doing battle with dastardly villains.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 July 2025
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But just to use an example, Force Awakens sets up Snoke as the big villain of the new trilogy, with a mysterious backstory.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
12 July 2025
Noun
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Call of Cthulhu flipped a lot of gaming conventions on their head with characters that degraded over time and scenarios that rewarded fleeing monsters instead of slaying them.—
Rob Wieland,
Forbes.com,
3 July 2025
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Complaining on NextDoor about traffic, some locals fled downtown Austin like a movie monster was stomping behind them.—
Ramon Ramirez,
Austin American Statesman,
2 July 2025
Noun
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The beasts were spotted at around 11:30 a.m. near Beach 32nd Street.—
Louis Casiano,
FOXNews.com,
5 July 2025
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That's because, even though restaurants can be unpredictable beasts, food and labor are largely considered to be controllable costs.—
Mackensy Lunsford,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Desperado.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/desperado. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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