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
Relevance
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stealing
Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Oct. 2025
Springer, who played for the 2017 World Series champion (and sign-stealing) Houston Astros, hit Bazardo’s 1-0 pitch into the left-field seats to ultimately win the game.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Another recurring feature of the biggest asset booms is outright chicanery, such as fraudulent accounting, the marketing of worthless securities, and plain old stealing.
—John Cassidy, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
The jury recommended that 21-year-old Jared Catarino of Overland Park serve 12 years for each manslaughter conviction, three years for each armed criminal action conviction and one year for each stealing of a firearm conviction.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2025
In a lot of ways, for Panthers’ fans, Sunday’s win may have felt a bit like stealing.
—Langston Wertz Jr, Charlotte Observer, 5 Oct. 2025
Hollywood starlet Sydney Sweeney has done plenty of scene-stealing in Euphoria and The White Lotus but her latest breakout performance may be on Wall Street.
—John Buckingham, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
Sign-stealing, the practice of gathering information on the signs a team uses to call offensive and defensive plays, is technically not prohibited under NCAA rules unless electronic communication is intercepted in-game.
—Ben Morse, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
Two singles and an error trying to catch a runner stealing resulted in the Giants tying the game at 1-1.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 3 Aug. 2025
Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
There’s a lot of concern among professionals across the creative and media industries that generative AI tools are essentially stealing their work by scraping content available on the Internet.
—Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 7 Nov. 2025
On Sunday, Israeli soldiers were filmed stealing olives in the town of Sinjil, after declaring the area a military zone and expelling Palestinian farmers, according to Palestinian and Israeli activists who were present.
—Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
Viktor Yanukovych and his family have been suspected of stealing millions from Ukraine’s public funds using a network of shell companies, including according to one SAR, Energy Coal.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Chef Brad Cooper gives classic European dishes a playful edge with silky risottos and a show-stealing mud crab omelet.
—Alli Forde, Travel + Leisure, 6 Nov. 2025
He was arrested in 2022 for stealing 6 figures of jewelry from me.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 6 Nov. 2025
The sign-stealing scandal of the Houston Astros [who beat the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series].
—Alison Weinflash, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2025
Santos was sentenced to prison in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025
Noun
The stealing of the Ford V-8 got the FBI involved in the couple’s manhunt.
—Ella Gonzales, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 25 Oct. 2025
Springer, who played for the 2017 World Series champion (and sign-stealing) Houston Astros, hit Bazardo’s 1-0 pitch into the left-field seats to ultimately win the game.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 21 Oct. 2025
Another recurring feature of the biggest asset booms is outright chicanery, such as fraudulent accounting, the marketing of worthless securities, and plain old stealing.
—John Cassidy, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
The jury recommended that 21-year-old Jared Catarino of Overland Park serve 12 years for each manslaughter conviction, three years for each armed criminal action conviction and one year for each stealing of a firearm conviction.
—Robert A. Cronkleton, Kansas City Star, 7 Oct. 2025
In a lot of ways, for Panthers’ fans, Sunday’s win may have felt a bit like stealing.
—Langston Wertz Jr, Charlotte Observer, 5 Oct. 2025
Hollywood starlet Sydney Sweeney has done plenty of scene-stealing in Euphoria and The White Lotus but her latest breakout performance may be on Wall Street.
—John Buckingham, Forbes.com, 19 Aug. 2025
Sign-stealing, the practice of gathering information on the signs a team uses to call offensive and defensive plays, is technically not prohibited under NCAA rules unless electronic communication is intercepted in-game.
—Ben Morse, CNN Money, 15 Aug. 2025
Two singles and an error trying to catch a runner stealing resulted in the Giants tying the game at 1-1.
—Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 3 Aug. 2025
Verb
Jennifer Lawrence's Oscar-winning acting is known for stealing scenes, but during a recent outing in New York City, her straight-leg jeans took the spotlight.
—Rylee Johnston, PEOPLE, 7 Nov. 2025
There’s a lot of concern among professionals across the creative and media industries that generative AI tools are essentially stealing their work by scraping content available on the Internet.
—Diana Lodderhose, Deadline, 7 Nov. 2025
On Sunday, Israeli soldiers were filmed stealing olives in the town of Sinjil, after declaring the area a military zone and expelling Palestinian farmers, according to Palestinian and Israeli activists who were present.
—Zeena Saifi, CNN Money, 7 Nov. 2025
Viktor Yanukovych and his family have been suspected of stealing millions from Ukraine’s public funds using a network of shell companies, including according to one SAR, Energy Coal.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 7 Nov. 2025
Chef Brad Cooper gives classic European dishes a playful edge with silky risottos and a show-stealing mud crab omelet.
—Alli Forde, Travel + Leisure, 6 Nov. 2025
He was arrested in 2022 for stealing 6 figures of jewelry from me.
—Ryan Morik, FOXNews.com, 6 Nov. 2025
The sign-stealing scandal of the Houston Astros [who beat the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series].
—Alison Weinflash, Rolling Stone, 31 Oct. 2025
Santos was sentenced to prison in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.
—David Mark, The Washington Examiner, 31 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stealing
Noun
-
Elk Grove detectives spotted the nine later identified as the team behind the two robberies in the parking lot of a nearby shopping center near Cosumnes River College just inside the Sacramento city limits.—
Darrell Smith,
Sacbee.com,
7 Nov. 2025
-
The report, completed before the spectacular robbery, covered management of the Louvre from 2018 to 2024.—
News Desk,
Artforum,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Wilson was arrested in February for allegedly swiping a subway rider through a turnstile and received cash in exchange.—
Adam Sabes,
FOXNews.com,
2 Nov. 2025
-
How one person feels about spending cash versus swiping their card is really about exposure, Bryan-Podvin says.—
Kamaron McNair,
CNBC,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Loomer started sneaking into her fund-raisers.—
Antonia Hitchens,
New Yorker,
10 Nov. 2025
-
The shoe’s hook-and-loop closure is another standout feature that keeps feet securely in place and prevents cold air from sneaking in.—
Melony Forcier,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
The domestic violence case was dismissed and the theft charge had yet to be disputed in court.—
Tamia Fowlkes,
jsonline.com,
9 Nov. 2025
-
Investigators believe the same person is responsible for at least the thefts in Rancho San Diego and Imperial Beach, and possibly all five thefts.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
8 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
But Gallagher couldn’t bear robbing the audience — and Marissa — of the satisfaction of his downfall.—
Hunter Ingram,
Variety,
8 Nov. 2025
-
In a separate case, a Russian soldier who had been accused of robbing a house in the village of Blystavitsy in the Bucha district of the Kyiv region in March 2022 was found not guilty.—
Sophie Tanno,
CNN Money,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Their debut album, Forever, sounds like temporarily regressing to your childhood self while tripping—a kind of gleaming innocence desperately fending off the darkness of adulthood lurking at the periphery.—
Kieran Press-Reynolds,
Pitchfork,
6 Nov. 2025
-
The Longhorns, Sooners, Miami and USC are among some of the higher-profile teams lurking on the fringe of the bracket, while schools such as Georgia Tech, Vanderbilt and Utah could still find a way to crash the party.—
Rohan Nadkarni,
NBC news,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Earlier this week the company filed a lawsuit against a group of data-scraping companies for allegedly pilfering its content and selling it to Perplexity.—
Reed Albergotti,
semafor.com,
24 Oct. 2025
-
And not the two sets of federal indictments against him for pilfering classified documents and then refusing to return them and for defrauding the United States.—
Jeff Robbins,
Oc Register,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The program’s pulse felt faint, its identity slipping further with each loss.—
Ira Gorawara,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
-
The Buffs dropped their third game in a row at Milan Puskar Stadium, falling 29-22 against the Mountaineers and slipping to 3-7 on a lost season.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
8 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stealing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stealing. Accessed 16 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share