Synonyms of pilfer

pilfer

verb

ˈpil-fər 

as in to steal

to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep

what sort of person would pilfer lunches from the office refrigerator?

Synonyms & Similar Words

• steal
• swipe
• filch
• grab
• purloin
• rob
• snatch
• lift
• misappropriate
• thieve
• appropriate
• snitch
• pinch
• nip
• pocket
• hook
• nick
• rip off
• hijack
• run off with
• take
• boost
• plunder
• seize
• make off with
• make away with
• walk off with
• pick
• heist
• loot
• pillage
• sack
• burglarize
• knock over
• shoplift
• poach
• kidnap
• rifle
• highjack
• grasp
• abduct
• rustle
• spirit
• carjack
• sponge
• nail
• mooch
• collar
• shanghai

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• buy
• purchase
• give
• contribute
• present
• bestow
• donate
• hand over

Synonym Chooser

How does the verb pilfer differ from other similar words?

Some common synonyms of pilfer are filch, purloin, and steal. While all these words mean "to take from another without right or without detection," pilfer implies stealing repeatedly in small amounts.

pilfered from his employer

When is it sensible to use filch instead of pilfer?

The meanings of filch and pilfer largely overlap; however, filch adds a suggestion of snatching quickly and surreptitiously.

filched an apple from the tray

In what contexts can purloin take the place of pilfer?

In some situations, the words purloin and pilfer are roughly equivalent. However, purloin stresses removing or carrying off for one's own use or purposes.

printed a purloined document

When is steal a more appropriate choice than pilfer?

While the synonyms steal and pilfer are close in meaning, steal may apply to any surreptitious taking of something and differs from the other terms by commonly applying to intangibles as well as material things.

steal jewels

stole a look at the gifts

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of pilfer

According to police, two former contract employees at Omaha's Westlawn-Hillcrest Memorial Park Cemetery began stealing memorial vases from the graveyard and selling them as scrap metal in late June or early July, while conspiring with others to pilfer and scrap them. —Jenna Sundel, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Aug. 2025

The United States and other countries are apprehensive that hackers are now pilfering data to be decrypted by quantum computers within the next ten years. —Chuck Brooks, Forbes.com, 1 Aug. 2025

Many of the things that happen in this film have happened for real, and they’re pilfered from actual F1 events. —Jazz Tangcay, Variety, 28 June 2025

One memorable 1944 cover featured a bunch of Hitlers as two-bit thieves pilfering everyday goods. —Patrick Sauer, Smithsonian Magazine, 27 June 2025