highway robbery

noun

1

: robbery committed on or near a public highway usually against travelers

2

: excessive profit or advantage derived from a business transaction

Synonyms

• extortion
• fleecing
• gouging
• overcharging

Examples of highway robbery in a Sentence

Charging that much to see a movie is highway robbery!

what some rock superstars charge for concert tickets is simply highway robbery

Recent Examples on the Web

The Nets‘ famous offseason trade with the Knicks — centered around Mikal Bridges — looks more like highway robbery each day. —C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 4 Feb. 2025

Jerry showed no sign of clocking their absence, though Bill wasn’t watching too closely—an act of moral highway robbery, maybe, but what was depredation if not an escape from the mundane? —Hazlitt, 9 Dec. 2024

Roberto Poli, Boynton Beach Highway robbery What has come out in the University of Florida student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator, regarding the spending of former UF president Ben Sasse, looks like highway robbery. —Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 20 Aug. 2024

At the airport sushi counter, where prices are no more offensive than the highway robbery over rubbery personal pizzas and gigantic pretzels, a confident—and meager—crowd silently communes over their unassuming California rolls. —Megan Spurrell, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 June 2024

The Celtics’ acquisition of Porzingis was highway robbery. —Danny Emerman, The Mercury News, 9 June 2024

Today that February 2023 trade screams highway robbery, but hindsight is always the best teacher. —C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 1 June 2024

Gas prices feel like highway robbery. —CBS News, 12 June 2022

The narrative that the Brewers committed highway robbery was pervasive. —Todd Rosiak, Journal Sentinel, 19 Feb. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

1611, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for highway robbery

• jobbery
• snobbery