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.

“Smart as the devil,” but a petty thief and delinquent, Jack is Ames’s namesake and a child of his best friend, the Presbyterian minister Robert Boughton.

From New York Times • Sep. 29, 2020

A Los Angelean gets help from a petty thief to rescue a woman from killers on the same train to Chicago.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 31, 2020

Is being a jerk or a petty thief really an unforgivable sin?

From The Verge • Oct. 4, 2018

Addressing the defendant, she said: "You have an awful record and you have become a petty thief."

From BBC • Aug. 8, 2018

There is no spiritual symbiosis; I'm just a petty thief who lifts his memories the same way I’ll take a handful of change left on his dresser.

From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris