thief
Americannoun
-
thieves
plural
noun
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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.
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
Inflected Forms
Nouns
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.
Vocabulary lists containing thief
Excerpt from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for June 8–June 14, 2024
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Unit 19, Lesson 4
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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.
See Examples For:
“It would have been more honorable to have been an anonymous thief in the night,” Savery said at Monday’s hearing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 31, 2026
"You have to choose: either a policeman or a thief," Sanusi said.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 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
When a hot-dog concession stand was robbed in 1993, a pregnant Ms. Fash chased the thief down the beach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 24, 2026
Ms. Lena said the thief was spotted in New Orleans.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
Folks once eager for the butlers of the future are now wary of potential attackers and job thieves.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
The Mayor of Villena, Fulgencio Cerdán, said the thieves "stole a large part of the treasure," specifically all the gold, El Pais reported.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
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
"They are the worst of thieves," Zainea added while selling fruit and vegetables from his own garden for some extra cash.
From Barron's ● Aug. 6, 2026
“Maybe. All I know is your gram and Madeline were thick as thieves after your gram came back to school.”
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
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.
