as in cowpoke
a hired hand who tends cattle or horses at a ranch or on the range cowboys were rounding up the cattle for branding

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Examples Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of cowboy Growing up south of Dallas-Fort Worth as the descendant of horse-raising cowboys directly impacts how folk, country, soul and rock uniquely intertwine to form his sound. Audrey Gibbs, The Tennessean, 29 Dec. 2024 Ranch hands Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist share a tent and hard labor like all cowboys do, but their fellowship evolves into something deeper. Lizz Schumer, People.com, 28 Dec. 2024 The entire performance was a love letter honoring her hometown, the Black Houstonian community and the legacy of the Black cowboy. Stephanie Tharpe, Forbes, 25 Dec. 2024 Or even with the lifestyle of cowboys and ranching to some extent in expansive areas. Jackie Strause, The Hollywood Reporter, 20 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for cowboy 
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowboy
Noun
  • Younger kids can choose from a selection of small plates portioned for cowpokes.
    Outside Online, Outside Online, 17 July 2024
  • His fictional protagonists have included ornery cowpokes and professors of esoterica.
    The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 12 June 2024
Noun
  • The term Cowboy became widely popular for the trade and subsequently was whitewashed to then exclude Black cowhands from the history books.
    Stephanie Tharpe, Forbes, 25 Dec. 2024
  • Houston is also home to the rodeo, the country’s oldest Black trail ride, and Black cowboy culture — in 1800s Texas, one in four cowhands were Black.
    Maria Sherman, Fortune, 29 Mar. 2024
Noun
  • The Supreme Court had already decided that yes, indeed, Texas — which spent a hundred million buckaroos a year on California produce — could throw up its own quarantine on Golden State goods.
    Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2024
  • The group disqualifies him, however, after researchers discover his buckaroo abilities are limited to wearing expensive Stetson hats and tripping on his lasso.
    Gustavo ArellanoColumnist, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2022
Noun
  • Bella Hadid has returned from playing the starring role in Rodeo and Juliet–a sort of real-life rom-com where an international supermodel falls in love with a simple Texan cowman and realizes there is a life beyond New York, London, Paris and Milan–and is (more importantly) back in capri pants.
    Daniel Rodgers, Vogue, 2 May 2024
  • McGuinn’s handshake indicated that, indeed, the farmer and the cowman, or the country traditionalist and the Byrd-man, could be friends.
    Chris Willman, Variety, 16 Jan. 2022
Noun
  • Farmers and ranchers who often experience much of the pigs' destruction can hunt or hire someone to hunt the animals without a license on private land, with no limits to how many can be killed.
    Landon Mion, Fox News, 6 Jan. 2025
  • Most are descendants of animals that escaped from Spanish explorers, the United States Calvary, Indigenous People, or ranchers and survived to breed.
    Jessica Farthing, Southern Living, 30 Dec. 2024
Noun
  • Not only with beauty, of course; impatient rulers liked that Vajrayana promised enlightenment in one lifetime, as opposed to the usual Buddhist dozens, and Kublai Khan spread its teachings as far as his horsemen could ride.
    Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 2 Jan. 2025
  • Later scenes showcase Sheridan’s impressive skill as a horseman and his sculpted torso.
    Greg Braxton, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024

Thesaurus Entries Near cowboy

Cite this Entry

“Cowboy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowboy. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.

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