musketeer
Americannoun
-
musketeers
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of musketeer
1580–90; musket + -eer; compare French mousquetaire, equivalent to mousquet musket + -aire -ary
Explanation
In the old days, a musketeer was a soldier who was armed with a muzzle-loading long gun. Before World War I, a musketeer was a member of the infantry who carried a specific type of weapon called a musket. Today, you're probably most likely to find this word referring to the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas called "The Three Musketeers." If you guessed the book is about three soldiers who carry muskets, you're right! It's also not unusual for adults to describe a group of three close pals as "the three musketeers."
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.
See Examples For:
Swordsman D’Artagnan arrives in Paris chasing his dreams to become a king’s musketeer, where he commits many a faux pas and gets robbed, among other indignities.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
A lone musketeer of disruption, he spouts mantras about the glory of “breaking stuff,” and cloaks his bottomless greed and shallow narcissism in showy messianic robes.
From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2022
The story finally kicks into gear when the musketeer Athos, played by Ben Cunis, reads a letter about his son’s misfortune even as we watch it playing out in a gorgeous slow-motion battle.
From Washington Post ● May 16, 2016
The instigator is that musketeer of the digital age, the whistleblower.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 6, 2016
In a minute or two the conversation stopped, and the three guards and the musketeer, after heartily shaking hands, separated, the guards going one way and Aramis another.
From Library of the World's Best literature, Ancient and Modern, Vol. 12 by Various
On view were hastily brushed, large canvases of musketeers, toreadors, atelier scenes and cavorting couples.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
The saying "three is a crowd" seems not only to apply to "The Three Investigators" and the three musketeers.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 25, 2024
Ultimately, he finds himself in conflict with three musketeers who each challenge him to a duel.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2023
These three space musketeers bring a collective net worth of almost $400 billion to their out-of-this-world side hustles.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 18, 2021
“Why, I expect it is like The Three Musketeers, by Mr. Alexandre Dumas. There are four musketeers in it, despite the title. Poetic license, perhaps?”
From "The Long-Lost Home" by Maryrose Wood
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.
