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
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
Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
And the scam compounds in Cambodia continue to operate, stealing money from victims including US citizens.
—Helen Regan, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2025
The advertisement comes as the thieves have not yet been caught and a manhunt remains underway to catch the individuals suspected of stealing the French Crown Jewels.
—Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Cast as Bud — a scene-stealing feline with a lion’s mane and a tendency to bite — the cat plays a key role opposite Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz, enduring shoot-outs, car chases and even a broken paw (don’t worry, the villain gets his comeuppance).
—Steve Garbarino, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025
Maduro, who is accused of stealing last year’s presidential election, responded with his own show of force, sending soldiers to the coastline for defensive exercises.
—Emily Goodin, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Cybersecurity experts are warning that OpenAI’s new browser, ChatGPT Atlas, could be vulnerable to malicious attacks that could turn AI assistants against users, potentially stealing sensitive data or even draining their bank accounts.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2025
The Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church is seeking donations after former South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace openly admitting to stealing money while working as its bookkeeper.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2025
While Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermes maintained domination as the top three brands, there was a dark horse stealing the search bar.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 17 Oct. 2025
Noun
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
Their double life soon gets complicated when a rival boy band harboring a sinister secret begins stealing their fans.
—Ingrid Vasquez, PEOPLE, 25 Oct. 2025
And the scam compounds in Cambodia continue to operate, stealing money from victims including US citizens.
—Helen Regan, CNN Money, 25 Oct. 2025
The advertisement comes as the thieves have not yet been caught and a manhunt remains underway to catch the individuals suspected of stealing the French Crown Jewels.
—Andrew Stanton, MSNBC Newsweek, 24 Oct. 2025
Cast as Bud — a scene-stealing feline with a lion’s mane and a tendency to bite — the cat plays a key role opposite Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz, enduring shoot-outs, car chases and even a broken paw (don’t worry, the villain gets his comeuppance).
—Steve Garbarino, HollywoodReporter, 24 Oct. 2025
Maduro, who is accused of stealing last year’s presidential election, responded with his own show of force, sending soldiers to the coastline for defensive exercises.
—Emily Goodin, Miami Herald, 24 Oct. 2025
Cybersecurity experts are warning that OpenAI’s new browser, ChatGPT Atlas, could be vulnerable to malicious attacks that could turn AI assistants against users, potentially stealing sensitive data or even draining their bank accounts.
—Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2025
The Lake Tahoe Community Presbyterian Church is seeking donations after former South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace openly admitting to stealing money while working as its bookkeeper.
—Ishani Desai, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2025
While Louis Vuitton, Chanel and Hermes maintained domination as the top three brands, there was a dark horse stealing the search bar.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 17 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stealing
Noun
-
Other times, the mob leaned on more traditional crime tactics — robbery, extortion and assault, including a punch to one victim’s face — to force the card players to pay.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Böcker, the firm that manufactured the furniture lift apparently used in the audacious robbery, has taken to social media to show there is no such thing as bad publicity.—
Lianne Kolirin,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In a world where people have grown increasingly accustomed to finding love by swiping right or left, this little Irish town and its festival offers something different.—
Bernadette Keith,
Travel + Leisure,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Thanks to the new ‘Hi-Five’ rule, which penalizes defenders for swiping at hands following through, and re-emphasizes contact to shooters’ legs, Curry shot nine free throws in the first half, all makes, and ended up with 13 attempts from the foul line overall.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Finally, Aleah and Tom end up at the house, slowly sneaking around and trying to maintain the upper hand in a dazzling shoot-out.—
Grace Byron,
Vulture,
20 Oct. 2025
-
But the main action involved Norman Reedus’ Daryl sneaking into El Alcazar and killing pretty much everyone there of any villainous importance, while also freeing Roberto’s girlfriend Justina (Candela Saitta).—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
20 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
The thieves were wearing construction worker uniforms and hoods over their heads, said an investigator from the Banditry Repression Brigade, a special police unit of the French Ministry of the Interior that investigates robberies and art theft.—
Kevin Shalvey,
ABC News,
19 Oct. 2025
-
Retail theft spiked 55% between the first half of 2024 compared to the same period in 2019, according to data from the Council for Criminal Justice.—
Gayla Cawley,
Boston Herald,
19 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But what the Mets really specialized in was stealing, robbing banks, selling drugs, planting evidence, doing Mob hits and selling civil-service exams, among other rackets.—
Howie Carr,
Boston Herald,
15 Oct. 2025
-
That said, his highlight reel plays in 2025 included robbing at least four home runs.—
Jeff Sanders,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
15 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The back-to-back incidents prompted concern that risky loans may be lurking on banks’ books.—
Liz Napolitano,Sawdah Bhaimiya,
CNBC,
17 Oct. 2025
-
Some are found lurking in remote corners of the world, while others have been hiding right under our noses.—
Real-Time News team,
Miami Herald,
17 Oct. 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
-
An op-ed about a country slipping and state failure.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
17 Oct. 2025
-
He is accused of slipping incapacitating drugs into victims’ food or drinks before assaulting them between 2021 and 2024.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
16 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Stealing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stealing. Accessed 26 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share