as in thieves
a person who steals money and other things from people's pockets and purses
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Recent Examples of pickpockets
An exterior zippered pocket on the back is perfect for storing cash or other valuables closer to your body to better protect against pickpockets.
—
Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 26 Apr. 2026
And when the 25,000 Social Security checks worth $8 million are delivered each month, police say 80 pickpockets arrive to prey on the elderly.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
Sophie Dodd, Travel + Leisure, 26 Apr. 2026
And when the 25,000 Social Security checks worth $8 million are delivered each month, police say 80 pickpockets arrive to prey on the elderly.
—Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 27 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pickpockets
Noun
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Hathaway gets the most fun part to play in this formidable ensemble, starring as egotistical actress Daphne Kluger, who starts as the mark but ends up enlisting among the thieves.—
Chris Feil,
Vulture,
1 May 2026
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Within 60 seconds of the would-be thieves pulling up in their car, the truck and all the gear were gone.—
Katie Nielsen,
CBS News,
1 May 2026
Noun
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But Deputy Solicitor General Eric Feigin said blocking such searches would handicap police searching for murderers, kidnappers and robbers.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
27 Apr. 2026
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Police said four robbers — two of whom have been caught in surveillance images — battered the woman and robbed her of her personal effects.—
Adam Harrington,
CBS News,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The decade ended tumultuously, with the Osmond family’s fortune drained by a series of swindlers and grifters.—
Jon Blistein,
Rolling Stone,
21 Apr. 2026
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This scam, according to Kent, could be proliferated with the use of AI, which can allow swindlers to enroll in many different college programs at once.—
Peter D'Abrosca,
FOXNews.com,
21 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The characters were based on a real family of bookmakers and racketeers who once lived in England.—
Sarah Moore,
Freep.com,
5 Mar. 2026
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When Ferrara was starting out, private investment in low-budget films was spurred by tax loopholes, a way for doctors, dentists, and racketeers to get rid of extra cash that would otherwise wind up in Uncle Sam’s grubby mitts.—
Nick Pinkerton,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Winschel said the vandals focused on stripping copper wire from electrical fixtures.—
Terra Sullivan,
CBS News,
13 Apr. 2026
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Failing to light the gasoline with a long gauze fuse, the vandals tossed a kerosene torch through a porch window, the story stated.—
Cam'ron Hardy,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Theater owners cut prices and dispensed prizes to ticket buyers as the gangsters effectively cross-pollinated with the studio dance numbers.—
Peter Bart,
Deadline,
23 Apr. 2026
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Violent gangsters ran fentanyl and human smuggling over the Rio Grande.—
Ioan Grillo,
Time,
15 Apr. 2026
Noun
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In the past decade, the leadership of the Kinahan organization has become rich and cosmopolitan, and their life styles have started to resemble those of international businessmen more than of street hoodlums.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
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The first pictures McCullin took were of hoodlums and down-and-outs, subjects that reflected his own hardscrabble background.—
Andrew Pulver,
Air Mail,
31 Jan. 2026
Noun
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In fact, the GTW ruffians have to give the Big Honey some props for his relative restraint in the heat of the moment.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
28 Feb. 2026
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Ciri, unbeknowest to her surrogate ma and pa, is free of her Nilfgaardian captors and on the run with a band of adolescent ruffians, and perhaps figuring out how to take care of herself.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Pickpockets.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pickpockets. Accessed 10 May. 2026.
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