thief

[theef]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thief ON THESAURUS.COM

noun, plural thieves.

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

Origin of thief

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

Related formsun·der·thief, noun, plural un·der·thieves.

Can be confusedburglar mugger robber thief (see synonym study at the current entry)

Synonyms for thief

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR thief ON THESAURUS.COM

burglar, pickpocket, highwayman. 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.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for thief

burglar, sniper, pickpocket, bandit, crook, swindler, criminal, pirate, robber, mugger, prowler, clip, cheat, hijacker, punk, plunderer, kleptomaniac, pilferer, larcenist, stealer

Examples from the Web for thief

Contemporary Examples of thief

Dear Thief is worthy of the abused critical adjectives philosophical, atmospheric, and masterful.
A Novel Nearly Impossible to Review
Nicholas Mancusi
December 28, 2014
Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief, doctor, lawyer, Indian chief, and all that.
Joseph Campbell on the Roots of Halloween
Joseph Campbell
October 31, 2014
All a thief had to do was take off the dial knob on the safe and place the little joker on inside of it.
The High Society Bank Robber of the 1800s
J. North Conway
October 19, 2014
Cole was clearly experimenting with this, the signature curve of his storytelling, while writing Every Day Is for the Thief.
Teju Cole’s Keen Eye Spares No One—Himself Included
Benjamin Lytal
July 9, 2014
His Nigeria book, Every Day is For the Thief, was actually written in 2006, prior to Open City.
Teju Cole’s Keen Eye Spares No One—Himself Included
Benjamin Lytal
July 9, 2014

Historical Examples of thief

Their shame was hers: the son of her mother, the son of her father was a thief!
Weighed and Wanting
George MacDonald
"The less reason, then, for her being a thief," Gilder grumbled in his heaviest voice.
Within the Law
Marvin Dana
Mortimer was either a thief or a hero; there could be no question about that.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
Against all evidence she was holding this man honest, believing her brother the thief.
Thoroughbreds
W. A. Fraser
You're the thief—Levi West—you come here and stole my daddy from me ye did.
Howard Pyle's Book of Pirates
Howard Pyle

British Dictionary definitions for thief

thief

noun plural thieves (θiːvz)

a person who steals something from another

criminal law a person who commits theft

Derived Formsthievish, adjectivethievishly, adverbthievishness, noun

Word Origin for thief

Old English thēof; related to Old Frisian thiāf, Old Saxon thiof, Old High German diob, Old Norse thjōfr, Gothic thiufs

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for thief

Old English þeof, from Proto-Germanic *theubaz (cf. Old Frisian thiaf, Old Saxon thiof, Middle Dutch dief, Old High German diob, German dieb, Old Norse þiofr, Gothic þiufs), probably from PIE *teup- (cf. Lithuanian tupeti "to crouch down").