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

Elias Morgan, a career armed robber, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 45 years on Tuesday for shooting dead father-of-three Lenny Scott.

From BBC

Last month, the Met said the tech had enable it to arrest suspected offenders including alleged paedophiles, rapists and violent robbers, 773 of whom had been charged or a cautioned.

From BBC

Residents were horrified and newspaper headlines spoke of "grave robbers."

From BBC

Derek recently posted a video about the store’s impending closure on social media, including video footage of a robber assaulting his mother and stealing her purse from the back of the store.

From Los Angeles Times

Props to the robber barons of yesteryear — at least they had style.

From Salon

Related Words

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

When To Use

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.