Meaning & use
thief
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Meanings
nouncountable
Someone who takes things that belong to others without permission, usually secretly.
Grammar: Plural is thieves, with a v.
Patterns
- a thief of something
- catch a thief
A thief took the bicycle from outside the library.
The shop installed cameras to catch thieves.
Police are looking for the thief who stole the painting.
nouncountablefigurative
Someone or something that takes what is valuable, such as time or credit, without having a right to it.
Grammar: Used figuratively with of: a thief of joy.
Patterns
- a thief of something
Comparison is the thief of joy.
He is a thief who copies others' ideas and takes the praise.
Procrastination is a thief of time.
Word forms
| plural | thieves |
|---|
Common combinations
- catch a thief
- The guard managed to catch the thief at the gate.
- petty thief
- A petty thief stole coins from the donation box.
- common thief
- They treated him like a common thief.
- cat burglar thief
- The thief climbed the drainpipe to reach the window.
- thief in the night
- It came like a thief in the night, with no warning.
Synonyms and how they differ
- robber
- A robber uses force or threats to take things, while a thief usually acts without confrontation.
- burglar
- A burglar breaks into a building to steal, so it is narrower than thief.
- pickpocket
- A pickpocket steals from people's pockets or bags in public, a specific kind of thief.
- shoplifter
- A shoplifter steals goods from a shop, again a particular type of thief.
Word family
Commonly confused: thief or theft? thief or robber?
thief vs theft
Theft is the crime or act of stealing, while thief is the person who does it.
thief vs robber
Robber involves threat or force, whereas a thief may steal quietly while no one is present.
Practice
Two ____ were seen running away from the jewelry shop with several watches.
Choose one answer.
The plural of thief is thieves. Thiefs and theives are misspellings, and thefts are crimes, not people.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “thief”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.