robber baron
noun
1
: an American capitalist of the latter part of the 19th century who became wealthy through exploitation (as of natural resources, governmental influence, or low wage scales)
2
: a business owner or executive who acquires wealth through ethically questionable tactics
Examples of robber baron in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
But Cahokia is surrounded by American robber barons eager to destroy its hierarchy and appropriate its treasures.
—
Mary Ann Gwinn, Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2024
The conflict ushered in, among other things, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, the Gilded Age and the robber barons, mass immigration from Ireland, Italy and Eastern Europe.
—Lance Morrow, WSJ, 9 Jan. 2024
The Gilded Age’s Morgan Spector made an impression in a skater boi meets robber baron Kenzo Spring 2024 look.
—Fawnia Soo Hoo, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Dec. 2023
Russell represents a cartoon version of a Gilded Age robber baron, both in his laughably broad characterization and in his almost cuddly fatherly energy.
—Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2023
The trustees—the same robber barons, or their representatives—would run the trust, deciding how to operate all these different, nominally competing railroads to maximize the return to the trustees (the railroads’ former owners).
—Cory Doctorow, WIRED, 7 Sep. 2023
This country didn’t invent trains, but regards them as wholly American, from the plundering railroad robber barons of the Gilded Age to the notion that steel and steam can master a continent, no matter who or what had to give way.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2023
Consider the Gilded Age robber baron Daniel Drew, one of that era’s outstanding stock manipulators and con men, who rarely missed a Sunday in church or was seen in public without a well-thumbed prayer book in hand.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2022
The house is a 21st-century version of a Fifth Avenue robber baron mansion: enormous and in your face.
—Mark Rozzo, Town & Country, 2 Apr. 2023
Mary Ann Gwinn, Los Angeles Times, 8 Feb. 2024
The conflict ushered in, among other things, Reconstruction and Jim Crow, the Gilded Age and the robber barons, mass immigration from Ireland, Italy and Eastern Europe.
—Lance Morrow, WSJ, 9 Jan. 2024
The Gilded Age’s Morgan Spector made an impression in a skater boi meets robber baron Kenzo Spring 2024 look.
—Fawnia Soo Hoo, The Hollywood Reporter, 16 Dec. 2023
Russell represents a cartoon version of a Gilded Age robber baron, both in his laughably broad characterization and in his almost cuddly fatherly energy.
—Phillip MacIak, The New Republic, 1 Nov. 2023
The trustees—the same robber barons, or their representatives—would run the trust, deciding how to operate all these different, nominally competing railroads to maximize the return to the trustees (the railroads’ former owners).
—Cory Doctorow, WIRED, 7 Sep. 2023
This country didn’t invent trains, but regards them as wholly American, from the plundering railroad robber barons of the Gilded Age to the notion that steel and steam can master a continent, no matter who or what had to give way.
—Patt Morrison, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2023
Consider the Gilded Age robber baron Daniel Drew, one of that era’s outstanding stock manipulators and con men, who rarely missed a Sunday in church or was seen in public without a well-thumbed prayer book in hand.
—Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 21 Nov. 2022
The house is a 21st-century version of a Fifth Avenue robber baron mansion: enormous and in your face.
—Mark Rozzo, Town & Country, 2 Apr. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'robber baron.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Robber baron.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/robber%20baron. Accessed 20 Apr. 2024.
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