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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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cowboy
Ethan’s also a bit of a cowboy, and all of those things come together to form Lee Raybon.
—
Alison Herman, Variety, 5 Nov. 2025
Wallace’s first Texas Monthly cover story was about Myrtis Dightman, the first Black cowboy to qualify for The National Finals Rodeo.
—Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 3 Nov. 2025
McGuane’s cowboys lose fights—for women, for their ranches, for their dreams—and tend to know when they’ve been beaten.
—Tyler Austin Harper, The Atlantic, 30 Oct. 2025
Just before the Texas road trip, Camela Kay said, Eric Kay bought an $800 cowboy outfit the family couldn’t afford.
—Sean Emery, Oc Register, 28 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cowboy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cowboy
Noun
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For cowpokes looking to escape winter’s bite, White Stallion Ranch operates year-round, offering trail rides among the cactuses on 3,000 acres bordering Saguaro National Park.—
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The Player’s Guide details how to build a character, whether its just a common cowpoke or one of the more unusual options like a huckster or blessed.—
Noun
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There are plenty of places to take a horse, with experienced cowhands to guide the way.—
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Now, the ranch is proactively using drones equipped with speakers and bright lights as stand-in cowhands, WSJ reported.—
Noun
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Joe worked as a cowpuncher in Flagler, Colo., making $150 a day tending to cattle on horseback.—
Noun
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There are muddy buckaroo boots worn by some lucky child, and the tiny boots of Major Lynn White (1838-1915), then the world’s smallest man.—
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The group disqualifies him, however, after researchers discover his buckaroo abilities are limited to wearing expensive Stetson hats and tripping on his lasso.—
Noun
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The entries this year range from a photograph of a horseman at sunset in Turkey, spotted between large rocks that appeared to form a natural stage, to a bird's-eye view of thousands gathering at the Ganges River in India to celebrate the body of water as a source of life.—
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Three horsemen burst forth from the ranch, setting off a flurry of gunfire.—
Noun
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The picture-perfect cowman’s paradise of Stockyards City is true to its stripes—and nowhere is this more evident than in Cattlemen’s Steakhouse.—
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The reply of my friend and hunting companion was one of those quaint, rasping epithets which only a cowman can manage when everything has gone wrong.—
Noun
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That rancher said people had been corner crossing over his property for years.—
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For instance, someone might identify both as a rancher and a conservationist, or a hunter who is also a wildlife advocate.—
Cite this Entry
“Cowboy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cowboy. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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