thief

A2 Topic:People & Society

US /θif/ UK /θiːf/ See IPA manual

Freq #1930

Meanings

1

noun
A person who steals something, especially secretly.

A thief broke into the house and took her jewellery.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a person who steals... stealer

More abstractor appropriator bagger booster borrowercribberfakerfilcherfloggerheisterlarcenerlarcenist

Word family

Forms thieves

Derived forms thief-takerthiefdomthieflikethieflythievishwater-thief

Related forms deceiver steal theft thieve

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

sneak thief
a thief who steals quietly without using violence

Noun + noun

Proverbs (4)

See all

Etymology

From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz.

thef Middle English þēof Old English *þeub Proto-West Germanic *þeubaz Proto-Germanic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# thief

**Type:** Word
**Level:** A2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /θif/
**IPA (UK):** /θiːf/
**Frequency rank:** 1930

## Meanings
1. A person who steals something, especially secretly.

## Examples
- A thief broke into the house and took her jewellery.

## Synonyms
- abstractor
- appropriator
- bagger
- booster
- borrower
- cribber
- faker
- filcher
- flogger
- heister
- larcener
- larcenist

## Derived Forms
- thief-taker
- thiefdom
- thieflike
- thiefly
- thievish
- water-thief

## Related Forms
- deceiver
- steal
- theft
- thieve

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: thef
- Root: þēof
- Root: *þeub
- Root: *þeubaz

## Etymology
From Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz.

## AI Etymology
Thief is from Middle English thef, theef, þef, from Old English þēof, from Proto-West Germanic *þeub, from Proto-Germanic *þeubaz. In present-day use, it means a person who steals something, especially secretly. Derived formations include thief-taker, thiefdom, thieflike, thiefly, thievish.

## Topics
- People & Society

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