robber baron
Noun
Meaning
(historical) In Europe, an aristocrat who charged exorbitant fees or otherwise exacted money from people who journeyed across land or waterways which he controlled.
Synonym: feudal lord
(chiefly US, idiomatic, usually derogatory) Especially in the 19th and early 20th centuries, a business tycoon who had great wealth and influence but whose methods were morally questionable and often unethical. [from 1870s]
Synonyms: captain of industry, industrialist, magnate
robber-baron (plural robber-barons)
Alternative spelling of robber baron
Alternative names
robber-baron