outlaws
Hunted by posses
Outlaws are people who live outside the law—originally those denied legal protection, now typically criminals or fugitives: a band of outlaws terrorizing the frontier.
The word evokes romanticized rebels like Robin Hood or Wild West bandits.
To outlaw something is to make it illegal: The city outlawed smoking in parks.
An outlawed practice is banned or prohibited.
Legendary forest-dwelling archer
- Jesse JamesInfamous frontier bandit
- Bonnie and ClydeDepression-era outlaw couple
- Billy the KidLegendary juvenile gunfighter
- legendaryFamous beyond ordinary measure
Butch Cassidy · notorious · folklore · ballads · antiheroes · swashbuckling · dashing · roguish
America's lawless frontier era
- cowboysRanch hands tending herds
- sheriffsElected county law officers
- gunslingersFast-drawing frontier fighters
- possesArmed bands aiding lawmen
bounty hunters · wanted posters · saloons · cattle rustling · Tombstone · OK Corral · vigilantes · lawmen
One who revolts
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
- resistance fighterArmed opponent of occupation
mutineer · renegade · defector · subversive · anarchist · insurrectionist · freedom fighter · partisan
Armed roadside thief
- fugitiveOne fleeing authorities
- gangsterCriminal organization member
- robberOne who steals by force
- thiefOne who steals
highwayman · brigand · desperado · felon · mobster · smuggler · burglar · racketeer
Officially not permitted
- forbiddenNot allowed
- illegalForbidden by statute
- contrabandProhibited trade goods
- illicitProhibited by law
criminalized · proscribed · unlawful · banned substances · black market · underground · bootleg · smuggled
Robin Hood
Legendary forest-dwelling archer
- Jesse JamesInfamous frontier bandit
- Bonnie and ClydeDepression-era outlaw couple
- Billy the KidLegendary juvenile gunfighter
Butch Cassidy · legendary · notorious · folklore · ballads · antiheroes · swashbuckling · dashing · roguish · charismatic
Wild West
America's lawless frontier era
- cowboysRanch hands tending herds
- sheriffsElected county law officers
- gunslingersFast-drawing frontier fighters
posses · bounty hunters · wanted posters · saloons · cattle rustling · Tombstone · OK Corral · vigilantes · lawmen · marshals
insurgent
One who revolts
- revolutionarySeeking fundamental systemic change
- dissidentOpposer of established systems
- guerrillaIrregular armed fighter
resistance fighter · mutineer · renegade · defector · subversive · anarchist · insurrectionist · freedom fighter · partisan · separatist
bandit
Armed roadside thief
thief · highwayman · brigand · desperado · felon · mobster · smuggler · burglar · racketeer · hoodlum
prohibited
Officially not permitted
- forbiddenNot allowed
- illegalForbidden by statute
- contrabandProhibited trade goods
illicit · criminalized · proscribed · unlawful · banned substances · black market · underground · bootleg · smuggled · taboo
- Americanspresidents, senators, governors, generals, authors
- Dystopia1984, Nineteen Eighty-Four, dystopian fiction, totalitarianism, Brave New World
- Old Westcowboy, cowboys, cowgirl, sheriff, sheriffs
- Wild Westcowboy, howdy, sheriff, giddyup, lawmen
- Frontier Figurespioneers, settlers, homesteaders, explorers, trappers
- frontier lifehomesteaders, farmer, homesteading, shepherd, pioneer women
outlawslawmen
Official crime fighters
sheriffs · deputies · police officers · marshals · authorities
outlawspillars of the community
Respected, influential local figures
paragons · saints · heroes · conformists · nobility
outlawslegalizes
Makes officially permitted
allows · permits · authorizes · approves · legitimates
- outlaw biker
- outlaw band
- legendary outlawMythologized criminal figure
- old west outlaw
- outlaw gangCriminal group evading law
- outlaw countryRebellious country music subgenre