robber

[ rob-er ]

noun

1. a person who robs.

   Synonyms: burglar, brigand, bandit, highwayman

Word History and Origins

Origin of robber¹

First recorded in 1125–75; Middle English robbere, from Old French robere. See rob, -er ¹

Synonym Study

See thief.

Example Sentences

Ligon was at one point held for evaluation in Eastern State Penitentiary, which opened in 1829 and once held Al Capone and bank robber Willie Sutton.

From Washington Post

When Answer Man was a wee Answer Boy, a favorite game was cops and robbers.

From Washington Post

The Mini Cooper was a budget bijou performance car, a good 16 years before VW thought up the Golf GTI, beloved by rally drivers and celluloid bank robbers alike.

From Ars Technica

Males have been observed fleeing the scene afterwards like a bank robber when the alarm is tripped.

From Popular-Science

It’s all very well catching a grasshopper twice your size—as the top predators, the robber flies, love doing—but then to have to deal with their long limbs flailing around while you’re trying to eat is tricky.

From Popular-Science

The Robber Nerds, like the Robber Barons, have given tons of money to charity.

From The Daily Beast

Robber Nerds exploit the poor working stiffs—but they do it in China and India where nobody gives a damn.

From The Daily Beast

In an astoundingly brief time, the Party of Lincoln became the Party of Robber Barons.

From The Daily Beast

Q was a Queen, who wore a silk slip; R was a Robber, and wanted a whip.

From Project Gutenberg

Probably the most interesting of them all is the great Robber-crab, which is found on certain islands of the Pacific.

From Project Gutenberg

Robber raids they called these wars which he waged for trumped-up pretexts.

From Project Gutenberg

Erastus the Robber Duck held up his wings as high as possible, and tried to get them higher.

From Project Gutenberg

Erastus the Robber Duck started to run; but he was lost, and did not know which way to go.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bandit
• burglar
• con artist
• crook
• looter
• marauder
• mugger
• pickpocket
• pirate
• raider
• rustler
• shoplifter
• swindler
• thief
• thug

More About Robber

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.

Where does robber come from?

The first records of the word robber come from the 1100s. It comes from the Old French robere.

The word robber is perhaps most commonly used in the term bank robber. That’s probably because money is the most popular thing to steal, and the bank is where the money is.

The word robber appears in the term robber baron, which was a label applied to the powerful industrialists in the U.S. in the late 1800s and early 1900s who amassed huge fortunes by exploiting workers and natural resources while relying on corruption and other unethical means to stay powerful (the term is still relevant).

Did you know ... ?

What are some other forms related to robber?

• robbery (noun)
• rob (verb)

What are some words that share a root or word element with robber? 

• robber baron
• armed robbery
• highway robbery

What are some words that often get used in discussing robber?

 

• bank
• armed
• burglar
• mugger
• steal
• thief
• store
• money
• valuables

How is robber used in real life?

You’re most likely to encounter the word robber in news reports about robberies.

Authorities say two more people have died after bank robbers attempted to carry out heists in northeastern Brazil, bringing the death toll to 14. https://t.co/yq29IY3usq pic.twitter.com/WLBQe0nEWi

— ABC News (@ABC) December 8, 2018

This man robbed First Tennessee Bank's 8160 Sawyer Brown Rd branch at 12:25 p m. today. He hit a 23 yr old customer on the head with his gun when he entered (non-critical injury). The robber fled in a small white hatchback car with a blue & white tag. Have info? 615-742-7463 pic.twitter.com/u0EWzpy26t

— Metro Nashville PD (@MNPDNashville) November 23, 2018

Want to help the FBI catch a bank robber? There's an app for that! Learn more here: https://t.co/5vayTqByw7 pic.twitter.com/1lXIbEbIAP

— FBI (@FBI) August 19, 2016

 

 

Try using robber!

Is robber used correctly in the following sentence? 

The movie is about a gang of robbers who terrorize a small town.