lawmen

noun

plural of lawman
as in policemen
a member of a force charged with law enforcement at the local level as the rural county's chief lawman, the sheriff has to patrol a vast area with only minimal manpower

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example 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 lawmen The moral decay of Karensville might as well be Charlottesville and the epithet-spewing McLeoud behaves too much like myriad red-state lawmen for comfort. — Los Angeles Times, 1 May 2026 As the lawmen avoided the beam of light and approached the car, the suspects were able to get inside and lock the doors. — Dave Duffey, Outdoor Life, 26 Mar. 2026 That church would become a topic of scrutiny and sensationalism by regional lawmen and news outlets alike throughout much of 1912. — Lauren Nicole Henley, The Conversation, 17 Feb. 2026 Who was this irritant who had eluded the most sophisticated lawmen in the country, thanks to the triviality of his crimes? — David Grann, New Yorker, 19 Oct. 2025 Cinematic lawmen like Little Bill in Unforgiven and Wyatt Earp in My Darling Clementine—films that inspired Eddington—commanded their towns with a near iron will. — Robert Daniels, Time, 10 Oct. 2025 Kris Kristofferson and Treat Williams as lawmen whose desert discovery leads down a path to information about the Kennedy assassination. — Rich Heldenfels, Boston Herald, 31 Aug. 2025 Kirsh’s shock of white hair and dry, sardonic air give Olyphant refreshing distance from the upright lawmen he’s known for. — Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lawmen
  1. policemen
  2. cops
  3. officers
  4. constables
  5. sheriffs
Noun
  • People began rioting in Los Angeles’ predominantly Black Watts neighborhood after a crowd watched White policemen forcefully subdue a Black man.
    — USA Today, USA Today, 28 July 2026
  • Over the weekend, dozens of plain-clothes policemen entered the protest site and dragged Wangchuk into an ambulance.
    — Omkar Khandekar, NPR, 20 July 2026
Definition of policemen
Noun
  • Bernadette explains the racial nuances the Guardians might not know as newcomers to Earth, echoing the landmark 1971 Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic series, which attempts to bring the space cops down to Earth by exposing them to racial strife.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 31 Aug. 2026
  • In the years since Shakur's murder, what exactly happened in that hail of bullets -- and who pulled the trigger -- was obscured by a lack of physical evidence, feuding cops and the gangland code of silence.
    — Sasha Pezenik, ABC News, 31 Aug. 2026
Definition of cops
Noun
  • After it was immobilized, the driver attempted to leave the vehicle and was apprehended by officers, according to NEA Report.
    — Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Many reviews mention that representatives and loan officers are easy to reach, knowledgeable, helpful and friendly.
    — Dan Simms, USA Today, 30 Aug. 2026
Definition of officers
Noun
  • The woman was able to flee the scene and located deputy constables.
    — Adam England, PEOPLE, 15 July 2026
  • Troopers and Beacon Falls constables responded to the home and detained Drozdowski, state police said.
    — Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 6 May 2026
Definition of constables
Noun
  • The author argues that sheriffs should not have independent authority over ballots and election procedures, and calls for the state legislature to clarify sheriff powers by amending the constitution to make sheriffs appointed rather than elected, similar to police chiefs.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Those sheriffs were featured in a recent Courier Journal investigation that found that one in six Kentucky counties has had a sheriff criminally charged or convicted since 2010.
    — Josh Wood, Louisville Courier Journal, 26 Sep. 2025
Definition of sheriffs

Browse Nearby Words

lawman
lawmen
lawn
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Lawmen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lawmen. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of dissonant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

Why does English have so many silent letters?

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All