pilfer
Americanverb (used with or without object)
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pilfers,
present (3rd person singular)
-
pilfered,
past participle, past
-
pilfering
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
pilfersimple
-
pilferssimple
-
have pilferedperfect
-
has pilferedperfect
-
am pilferingprogressive
-
are pilferingprogressive
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is pilferingprogressive
-
have been pilferingperfect progressive
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has been pilferingperfect progressive
Past
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pilferedsimple
-
had pilferedperfect
-
was pilferingprogressive
-
were pilferingprogressive
-
had been pilferingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of pilfer
1540–50; v. use of late Middle English pilfre booty < Middle French pelfre. See pelf
Explanation
To pilfer is to steal something, typically of small value. Minor thefts, like taking a roll of toilet paper out of a public bathroom or napkins from the Early Bird Buffet are what your grandfather, for example, might pilfer. The verb pilfer comes from the Old French noun pelfre, meaning “booty,” or “spoils.” Now pilfer is used when talking about the act of stealing loot: you may find that you have to really restrain yourself from the desire to pilfer your friend’s new fur-lined gloves, even though you're pretty sure she pilfered your headphones. Robin Hood was able to pilfer from the rich to give to the poor.
Vocabulary lists containing pilfer
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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This Week in Pop Culture: August 10–16, 2019
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A Long Way from Chicago
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Harvey initially came under investigation in early 2024 and authorities charge that he continued to pilfer shoes even after he knew that police were onto him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
But when Uncle Murray refuses to pay up, and Marty has to pilfer the money for his trip, the road to global eminence takes some sharp turns.
From Salon ● Dec. 25, 2025
The company says it’s beefing up security protocols to make it harder for hackers to use stolen credentials or access tools to pilfer data.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 16, 2024
They break into garages, pilfer supposedly unreachable bird feeders and ransack trash bins, even defeating lids specifically designed to thwart them.
From New York Times ● Sep. 22, 2022
I head toward the kitchen to see what I can pilfer before dinner.
From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold
Website publishers, particularly media outlets, say that AI pilfers their content without compensation to feed its models.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
Affleck knows how to steal scenes, and he pilfers a few, but he’s a very good and generous director of actors.
From New York Times ● Apr. 4, 2023
Locals in the town of Munnar, near Padayappa's habitat, call him a "gentle giant" who has never hurt anyone, even though he occasionally pilfers food from their homes and farms at night.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2023
Everybody pilfers their elders' closets at some point; why shouldn't Netflix raid Fox's?
From Salon ● Jan. 19, 2023
He steals the milk from the Lamb, he steals the honey from the children of the Bee, even as the Melecta pilfers the pottage of the Anthophora's sons.
From The Mason-Bees by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
Historically, authorities have clawed back pilfered funds about 75% of the time when scams were reported within 72 hours, said the FBI’s Lynch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Setup: After Woody gets pilfered by a toy dealer, he discovers he’s part of a rare vintage set that includes Jessie and a horse named Bullseye.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
Nick Frost pilfered two Lions line-outs as they turned the screw.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2025
With money pilfered from the firm, Kamon financed construction projects at his homes in Palos Verdes and Encino, according to the plea agreement.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2024
My parents never offered them, and the glass doors obviously guarded them, and so I pilfered from that case.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
What’s more, China has a history of pilfering technology to get ahead: In 2025, one in five European companies in China said that Chinese firms had stolen technology.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026
Yes, using the DOJ’s website, users are pilfering software and documents from the Epstein files.
From Slate ● Feb. 3, 2026
He probably feels more awful about his after-hours pilfering than you do.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 24, 2025
Slowly, painfully, he realizes they are miserable not because of one another but because they are poor, a hardship he has been quietly worsening by pilfering their stores.
From Salon ● Nov. 16, 2025
The deck grew over time, with people pilfering index cards from classrooms whenever they wanted to expand it.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
