vigilante

nounattested in dialogue

United Kingdom//ˌvɪd͡ʒ.ɪˈlæn.ti//
United Kingdom//ˌvɪd͡ʒ.ɪˈlɑːn.teɪ//
United States//ˌvɪd͡ʒ.əˈlæn.ti//

A member of a vigilance committee.

noun

1
A member of a vigilance committee.
2
A person who acts outside of legal authority, often violently, to punish or avenge a crime, right a perceived wrong, etc.
For example, a voice accusing a man of being a paedophile might be based on recent TV news programmes about antipaedophile vigilante groups, plus the memory of having been accused of being a pervert by a neighbour, plus fears that he might be a secret paedophile because he enjoyed reading Lolita.
Jeptha Billingsley, who was no prize pig himself (he had been arrested for horse theft and assault with intent to murder), was to be taught a lesson, and the vigilantes made him cut down the McLemores.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish vigilante (“watchman, guard”), from Latin vigilans. Doublet of vigilant.

Forms

plural: vigilantes

vigil · An instance of keeping awake during normal sleeping hours,…Vigil · A surname.vigilant · Watchful, especially for danger or disorder; alert; wary

vigilante · A member of a vigilance committee.

Vigilante · A surname.Vijay · A male given name from Sanskrit.Viking · A stock character common in the fantasy genre, namely a…

The neighbouring pages — Alphabetical order follows the rules of the language, not byte values: an accent decides only between two otherwise identical words, and Spanish files Ñ as a letter of its own.