thief
[ theef ]
/ θif /
noun, plural thieves.
a person who steals, especially secretly or without open force; one guilty of theft or larceny.
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RELATED WORDS
burglar, sniper, pickpocket, bandit, crook, swindler, criminal, pirate, robber, mugger, prowler, clip, cheat, hijacker, punk, plunderer, kleptomaniac, pilferer, larcenist, stealer
Nearby words
- thickly,
- thickness,
- thickness piece,
- thicko,
- thickset,
- thief ant,
- thief in the night, like a,
- thief, thieves,
- thiemia,
- thienylalanine
Origin of thief
before 900; Middle English; Old English thēof; cognate with Dutch dief, German Dieb, Old Norse thjōfr, Gothic thiufs
SYNONYMS FOR thief
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
Examples from the Web for thief
thief
/ (θiːf) /
noun plural thieves (θiːvz)
a person who steals something from another
criminal law a person who commits theft
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
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").
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper