thief

American  

[theef] / θif /

noun

• thieves
  plural

1. a person who steals, especially secretly or without open force; one guilty of theft or larceny.

   Synonyms:

   highwayman, pickpocket, burglar

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thief British  

/ θiːf /

noun

1. a person who steals something from another

2. criminal law a person who commits theft

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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.

Synonym Usage

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

Derived Forms

• thievishness
  noun
• underthief
  noun
• thievish
  adjective
• thievishly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• thieves
  plural

Etymology

Origin of thief

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English thēof; cognate with Dutch dief, German Dieb, Old Norse thjōfr, Gothic thiufs

Explanation

A thief is someone who steals something. A thief can be anything from a cyberspace criminal mastermind who steals credit card information around the world, to the petty thief who picks people's pockets on the subway. Some famous thieves (notice the -v- in the plural) include outlaws of the Old West, like Butch Cassidy and Jesse James, and those notorious bank robbers of the 1930s with the memorable names — "Baby Face" Nelson, "Pretty Boy" Floyd, Bonnie and Clyde, Ma Barker, "Machine Gun" Kelly, to name a few. They were so bold (and so brutal) that their activities became a major impetus for the beefing up of the FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

thief thieves

Shehu’s lawyer, Kujtim Cakrani, says Shehu is neither a drug dealer nor a land thief, and he never dealt directly with Kushner—only acting through an intermediary.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026

He is also on a mission — to clear his father’s name as the wrongfully convicted thief of a valuable necklace owned by the Pellegrini family.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026

For three glorious seasons between 1983 and 1985, ‘80s kids also had the “Dungeons & Dragons” animated series with its two girl heroes: an acrobat and a thief with an invisibility cloak.

From Salon ● Jun. 24, 2026

But things really exploded on 21 May, when Schneider, who has 1.4m subscribers, posted a video called "I tracked down the thief who stole $200,000 of LEGO".

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

Nancy gazed after her, wondering if the costume manager might be the slipper thief.

From "The Cinderella Ballet Mystery: Nancy Drew and the Clue Crew, #4" by Carolyn Keene

Flock Safety claims over 5,000 law enforcement agencies use its license plate readers to help locate missing persons, catch thieves and identify suspicious vehicles.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

Police are now probing how the thieves were able to enter the museum without triggering its alarms and who may have been responsible.

From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026

Crypto accounts, bank accounts and even eBay accounts are also vulnerable to phishing scams where thieves send an email with a link and implore you to click.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026

It is primarily tasked with repairing and fortifying the city’s more than 210,000 streetlamps — a frequent target of copper wire thieves — and maintaining its network of electrical vehicle charging stations.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026

They’re quite sinister and would certainly frighten off ghosts or thieves.

From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin

Related Words

• bandit
• burglar
• criminal
• crook
• mugger
• pickpocket
• pirate
• robber
• sniper
• swindler