A buccaneer was a pirate. Buccaneers often attacked and stole from Spanish ships in the 17th and 18th centuries.
2. countable noun
If you describe someone as a buccaneer, you mean that they are clever and successful, especially in business, but you do not completely trust them.
[British]
More Synonyms of buccaneer
buccaneer in British English
(ˌbʌkəˈnɪə)
noun
1.
a pirate, esp one who preyed on the Spanish colonies and shipping in America and the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries
verb(intransitive)
2.
to be or act like a buccaneer
Word origin
C17: from French boucanier, from boucaner to smoke meat, from Old French boucan frame for smoking meat, of Tupian origin; originally applied to French and Englishhunters of wild oxen in the Caribbean
buccaneer in American English
(ˌbʌkəˈnɪr)
noun
a pirate, or sea robber, esp. one who raided along the Spanish coasts of America in the 17th cent.
Word origin
Fr boucanier, user of a boucan, native Brazilian grill for roasting meat; orig. applied to Fr hunters of wild oxenin Haiti
Examples of 'buccaneer' in a sentence
buccaneer
Perhaps the deals did not suit the buccaneering English style.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
(noun)
Definition
a pirate, esp. in the Caribbean in the 17th and 18th centuries
the villainous buccaneer with the peg-leg and the parrot
Synonyms
pirate
In the nineteenth century, pirates roamed the seas.
privateer
corsair
Treasure galleons were often attacked by corsairs and pirates.
freebooter
sea-rover
Additional synonyms
in the sense of corsair
Definition
a pirate
Treasure galleons were often attacked by corsairs and pirates.