thief
Americannoun
plural
thievesnoun
-
a person who steals something from another
-
criminal law a person who commits theft
Usage
What does thief mean? A thief is a person who steals, especially in secret and without using force or violence.The plural of thief is thieves. The related noun theft refers to the act or an instance of stealing.In general, intentionally taking something that doesn’t belong to you makes you a thief. The word most commonly refers to a person who steals money or physical property, but a thief can steal other things, such as ideas, information, or intellectual property.The word thief typically refers to a person who steals without anyone noticing, at least not when the theft is taking place. In contrast, a person who steals by using force, violence, or threats of force or violence would more likely be called a robber. Still, the word thief is used generally to refer to someone who steals. In this way, a robber is a kind of thief.Most instances of theft are crimes, but a person might still be called a thief if they’ve committed a theft that won’t get them arrested. You might call your sibling a thief when they steal a cookie from your plate, for example.Example: I don’t care that he only stole a few things—he stole them, and that makes him a thief.
Related Words
Thief, robber refer to one who steals. A thief takes the goods or property of another by stealth without the latter's knowledge: like a thief in the night. A robber trespasses upon the house, property, or person of another, and makes away with things of value, even at the cost of violence: A robber held up two women on the street.
Other Word Forms
- thievish adjective
- thievishly adverb
- thievishness noun
- underthief noun
Etymology
Origin of thief
First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English thēof; cognate with Dutch dief, German Dieb, Old Norse thjōfr, Gothic thiufs
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.
“My friend told me that he saw the same white tow truck driving around his neighborhood in Chino, too. This thief is just out there.”
From Los Angeles Times
Questions continue to swirl since the October 19 break-in over whether it was avoidable and why thieves were able to steal crown jewels worth more than $100 million.
From Barron's
Los Angeles city officials are asking for the public’s help identifying a toddler who was left behind by a would-be car thief in Highland Park on Sunday morning.
From Los Angeles Times
The city’s parking enforcement and transportation officers were removed from the field over the weekend after copper wire thieves damaged a key communications tower in Elysian Park, leaving several departments with inoperable radios.
From Los Angeles Times
If the thieves who dropped Empress Eugenie’s crown outside the Louvre during this year’s heist, sparked an interest in jeweled headgear, try this encyclopedic guide to the world’s most famous tiaras.
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.
