Synonyms of stealing

stealing 1 of 2

noun

as in robbery

the unlawful taking and carrying away of property without the consent of its owner

in those days the stealing of a horse was a very serious crime

Synonyms & Similar Words

• robbery
• theft
• larceny
• kidnapping
• thievery
• burglary
• pilfering
• smuggling
• embezzlement
• abduction
• embezzling
• misappropriation
• shoplifting
• graft
• hijacking
• plundering
• looting
• rustling
• pilferage
• housebreaking
• peculation
• misapplication
• petit larceny
• filching
• piracy
• petty larceny
• poaching
• pillage
• purloining
• carjacking
• spoliation
• rapine
• despoliation
• banditry
• shanghaiing
• despoilment
• black marketeering

stealing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of steal

1

as in swiping

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

the guy who tried to steal my car was sentenced to a year in jail

Synonyms & Similar Words

• swiping
• robbing
• pilfering
• grabbing
• snatching
• lifting
• filching
• thieving
• appropriating
• misappropriating
• purloining
• pocketing
• nicking
• pinching
• snitching
• hijacking
• hooking
• nipping
• boosting
• ripping off
• picking
• seizing
• taking
• heisting
• plundering
• running off with
• making off with
• looting
• making away with
• burglarizing
• pillaging
• walking off with
• sacking
• shoplifting
• knocking over
• poaching
• grasping
• kidnapping
• abducting
• rustling
• rifling
• nailing
• carjacking
• mooching
• collaring
• sponging
• spiriting
• shanghaiing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• buying
• purchasing
• giving
• presenting
• contributing
• donating
• bestowing
• handing over

2

as in sneaking

to move about in a sly or secret manner

the teenagers were able to steal past a security guard and enter the fairgrounds without paying admission

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sneaking
• lurking
• slipping
• sliding
• crawling
• slinking
• skulking
• shirking
• snaking
• creeping
• tiptoeing
• mooching
• mousing
• pussyfooting
• edging
• inching
• padding
• worming
• ghosting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of stealing

Noun

To no one’s surprise, Axios reported last week that Republicans have the gall to consider more stealing from health care and day care to pay for a budget bill containing as much as $200 billion to fund the Iran war and immigration enforcement. —Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 9 Apr. 2026

Critics singled out her performance as scene-stealing. —Borys Kit, HollywoodReporter, 26 Mar. 2026

By this token, the politician who steals scraps of another’s rhetoric (even if the actual stealing is performed by speechwriters) is derided as if he had been found watching pornography. —Anthony Lane, New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2026

The Bible teaches that lying, stealing, adultery and coveting your neighbor’s property are sins. —Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 16 Mar. 2026

Base running isn’t confined to base stealing, either. —Chad Bishop, AJC.com, 13 Mar. 2026

Former Michigan linebackers coach Chris Partridge is suing the university, its board of regents and athletic director Warde Manuel for firing him in 2023 while the NCAA investigated allegations of in-person scouting and sign-stealing. —CBS News, 12 Mar. 2026

Forty-eight percent of employees surveyed with toxic bosses highlight credit-stealing as a main offense. —Chris Lipp, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026

Correa was the most vocal Astro to defend their title after the sign-stealing was discovered. —Assistant Sports Editor, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2026

Verb

While there, the duo is accused of going into another hotel room, then stealing cash and designer bags worth tens of thousands of dollars, one Hermes bag valued at $32,000. —Jermont Terry, CBS News, 15 Apr. 2026

Set in an Aztec world, young Mexica warrior Xilactzin, accused of stealing sacred bones, crosses to the Mictlan underworld to retrieve them and battle the goddess of darkness, Itzpapalotl. —John Hopewell, Variety, 14 Apr. 2026

Mia Consalvi hit for the cycle, driving in four runs and stealing two bases as Sandwich (4-2) bested Falmouth, 19-0. —Brendan Connelly, Boston Herald, 14 Apr. 2026

Last November, a federal grand jury in Miami handed up an indictment accusing her and three others of stealing $5 million in federal disaster funds, laundering the money, and using it to support her 2021 congressional campaign. —David Lyons, Sun Sentinel, 14 Apr. 2026

Tejada and Alston were seen on video stealing Vitels’ Lexus that was parked in front of the building. —Leonard Greene, New York Daily News, 14 Apr. 2026

His exasperated wife, Lili, gets a classic Lucy Punch-up from the veteran scene-stealing British actress (Jingle Bell Heist). —Sarah Rodman, Entertainment Weekly, 7 Apr. 2026

Then, in Sunday’s series finale against the New York Mets, Chapman committed his third error of the season and was caught stealing with the Giants down three runs in the bottom of the ninth. —Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 7 Apr. 2026

Louis has quickly become known, and beloved, for stealing the show at royal family public events. —ABC News, 6 Apr. 2026