rogues' gallery
Americannoun
noun
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a collection of photographs of known criminals kept by the police for identification purposes
-
a group of undesirable people
Etymology
Origin of rogues' gallery
First recorded in 1855–60
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The first group in the rogues’ gallery are the British children of World War II. Lennon was born in the interlude between air raids.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 25, 2026
With Richard Beckinsale as his impressionable cellmate Lennie Godber, the series has a colourful rogues’ gallery of prisoners played by a cast including Brian Glover, Tony Osoba, Christopher Biggins, David Jason and Peter Vaughan.
From BBC • Sep. 4, 2024
“It’s a rogues’ gallery on that through one provider,” said Halcyon executive Ryan Golden ahead of the report’s publication.
From Reuters • Aug. 1, 2023
Sometimes I take a shortcut and browse the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station’s weed gallery of 130-plus thumbnail photos, because the most likely culprits are all there — a real rogues’ gallery.
From New York Times • May 8, 2020
But within this Hamiltonian rogues’ gallery, Burr was always the chief rogue, and what Hamilton said about him was truly distinctive.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
