lawman

IPA/ˈlɔːmæn/
KK[lˈɔmən]IPA/ˈlɔːmæn/

lawman — noun

1. a man whose job is to make sure people follow the law — typically used for a she

1.nounC1
Definition

a man whose job is to make sure people follow the law — typically used for a sheriff, town marshal, or deputy in the American West.

Example

The old town remembered Sheriff Gabriel as a brave lawman who never carried his gun loaded.

common collocation: brave / honest / tough lawman

Folake's grandfather served as a lawman in a small Texas town for thirty years.

pattern: serve as a lawman

Common collocations
  • brave lawman
  • tough lawman
  • local lawman
  • veteran lawman
  • frontier lawman
Synonyms
  • sheriff

    specific elected county law officer in the US; narrower than lawman

  • marshal

    federal or town law officer, especially historical American West

  • police officer

    modern, gender-neutral, everyday term in any country

  • constable

    British and Commonwealth term for a regular police officer

Antonyms
  • outlaw

    a person who breaks the law and lives outside it, classic western opposite

  • criminal

    general term for someone who commits crimes

Usage Note

Strongly associated with American English and the Old West setting (sheriff, marshal, deputy). In modern formal contexts, 'law enforcement officer' or 'police officer' is far more common; 'lawman' often carries a literary or historical tone.

Common Mistakes

She works as a lawman in Chicago.
She works as a police officer in Chicago.
'lawman' specifically means a male officer and now sounds dated outside historical or western contexts.
The lawman caught the suspect on the highway near London.
The police officer caught the suspect on the highway near London.
'lawman' fits American western settings, not British everyday contexts.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five words refer to people who enforce the law, but they differ in scope, register, and cultural setting. 'Lawman' is a broad, slightly literary American term, strongly tied to historical or western contexts; it usually pictures a male sheriff or marshal of the Old West. 'Sheriff' is much more specific — an elected official in charge of a US county's law enforcement. 'Marshal' can refer to a federal officer (US Marshal) or a town's chief officer in the 19th-century West. 'Police officer' is the standard modern, gender-neutral word for any country. 'Constable' is the everyday term in Britain and many Commonwealth countries for a regular police officer. So in modern London a 'constable' patrols the streets, while a 'lawman' rides into Tombstone.

lawman ↗sheriff ↗marshal ↗police officerconstable ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • frontier lawman
  • town lawman
  • local lawman
  • veteran lawman

Phrases

  • serve as a lawman
  • become a lawman

Prepositions

  • lawman in [a town/county]
  • lawman of [a region]

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishAmerican English

A simple compound of 'law' + 'man', first recorded in American English in the early 19th century. It became widely used in newspapers and dime novels describing sheriffs, marshals, and deputies in the American West, and through countless cowboy films and books has kept its frontier flavour ever since.