robber
Americannoun
-
robbers
plural
Usage
What does robber mean? A robber is a person who robs—steals, especially by force or through threats of violence. In other words, a robber is someone who commits robbery. A robber can rob a person or a place, such as a house or business. A robber who robs a person on the street is often called a mugger. A person who robs a bank is called a bank robber and the act of doing this is called bank robbery. An armed robber is a person who commits armed robbery, which involves robbing a person or place while armed with a weapon. A robber is a kind of thief, which is a person who steals things. However, the word thief usually refers to a person who steals without anyone noticing, at least not when the theft is taking place. In contrast, a person who steals by using force, violence, or threats of force or violence would more likely be called a robber. The word rob can also be used in a kind of figurative way meaning to unfairly deprive someone of something, but robber is only used to refer to someone who robs in the literal sense. Example: Police have released sketches of the suspects in the hopes that someone can identify the bank robbers.
Synonym Usage
See thief.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of robber
First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English robbere, from Old French robere. See rob, -er 1
Explanation
A robber is someone who steals from another person. A bank robber might steal money from a teller by claiming to have a gun, while a robber baron is much more subtle. Robbery is the crime that robbers commit, taking someone's property or money by hurting them or threatening to hurt them. You might picture train robbers in an old Western movie, galloping away with their loot shooting their guns in the air. In the nineteenth century, Americans began using the term "robber baron" to mean wealthy, unscrupulous businessmen.
Vocabulary lists containing robber
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:
The robber turned out to be an Italian glazier who helped frame the museum's paintings.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
The ruthless machinations of Gilded Age robber barons are transposed to New York’s hotels and banquet rooms—a story of love marketed to the highest bidder.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 19, 2026
"It needs to be nipped in the bud because today's petty thief is tomorrow's bank robber," he says.
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
Arguing over the name of a great train robber, in the midst of more serious business, Debbie and William slide into what amounts to an Abbott and Costello routine.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 12, 2026
“You look like a bank robber, man,” I said to him.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
Prosecutor Arizuna Asante said Botezatu was smoking with a friend near to his car when the robbers approached.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
It’s a case about how cops use peoples’ private digital data to catch robbers.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2026
On the available training data, "we average less than one percent errors," Van Calster said -- although "there's a kind of cops and robbers race that's never going to stop" as the fakers' technology improves.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Not even a leaping Mullins, one of baseball’s veteran home-run robbers, could stop Freddie Freeman from doing what the Dodgers first baseman does best: hitting clutch home runs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
“And Laius was murdered by robbers, where three roads meet on the way to Delphi,” she concluded triumphantly.
From "Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes" by Edith Hamilton
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.
