rogues' gallery

American  

noun

1. a collection of portraits of criminals and suspects maintained by the police for purposes of identification.

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rogues' gallery British  

noun

1. a collection of photographs of known criminals kept by the police for identification purposes

2. a group of undesirable people

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rogues' gallery Idioms  

1. A police collection of pictures of criminals and suspects kept for identification purposes. For example, The detective went through the entire rogues' gallery but couldn't find a match with the suspect. [Mid-1800s]

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Etymology

Origin of rogues' gallery

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

Subsequently, a rogues’ gallery of Batman’s most notorious foes are also broken out by Two-Face and Solomon Grundy to wreak havoc on the city and muddle Batman and his team’s ultimate task at hand.

From Washington Times

Conservatives came to loathe Mr. Clark, but support for him also began to erode among left-leaning activists as he made a habit of defending a rogues’ gallery of accused terrorists and war criminals.

From Washington Post

“Eric calls them our saints — I like to think of them as our rogues gallery.”

From New York Times

Far from gliding into a gilded future that has been her destiny, Maxwell is now firmly fixed in a tabloid rogues’ gallery, as she stands accused of procuring and grooming underage girls to satisfy the boundless sexual appetite of her onetime lover, the billionaire financier Jeffrey Epstein.

From Washington Post

Taken together, the rogues’ gallery of criminals receiving clemency this week showcased Trump’s willingness to exert raw political power for his own personal gain, handing out favors to friends at a time when he is seeking GOP support for his flailing bid to reverse his election loss.

From Washington Post