thieves 1 of 2

noun

plural of thief
as in robbers
one who steals a thief has been stealing wallets and valuables from the lockers at the gym

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thieves

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of thieve
as in steals
to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep someone's been thieving my cookies!

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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 thieves
Noun
Glass is shattered at Dots Cafe & Bakery as thieves break in. — Julie Sharp, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026 Cargo thefts are a pervasive problem in isolated stretches of the Mojave Desert, where thieves board slow-moving freight trains to steal high-value merchandise, sometimes slashing an air brake hose to bring the railcars to an emergency stop. — Alex Wigglesworth, Los Angeles Times, 19 Aug. 2026 In August 2024, thieves raided a Union Pacific train stopped on Chicago’s West Side, taking TVs and other electronics and loading them into waiting vehicles even after overmatched police arrived. — Kiel Porter, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026 In this particular instance, the thieves had swapped out two RTX 5080 GPUs for a pair of RTX 3060 cards. — Jon Martindale, PC Magazine, 17 Aug. 2026 Advertisement Investigators are reportedly also interviewing museum staff to determine how the thieves managed to evade security. — Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 17 Aug. 2026 The thieves took a five-panel altarpiece known as the Polittico di San Gregorio, which is the only work by Antonello da Messina to have never left his hometown. — News Desk, Artforum, 17 Aug. 2026 The thieves bypassed alarm and security systems at the MuMe museum. — ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026 The thieves also purloined a small double-sided painting, with the Virgin and Child on one side and Christ on the other, that the Sicilian regional government had bought from the auction house Christie's back in 2003. — Willem Marx, NPR, 16 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for thieves
  1. robbers
  2. steals
  3. burglars
  4. swipes
Noun
  • Set in 1935, amidst the Great Depression, Season 2 revolves around the bloody massacre of the Bradley Gang, a group of bank robbers who stop in Derry to buy ammo and end up facing unimaginable horror.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Several other law enforcement vehicles then pulled up with their lights and sirens activated, and the would-be robbers ran off.
    — Todd Feurer, CBS News, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of robbers
Verb
  • Desperate to believe his life is about to change, Tommy steals Wayne’s car and begins driving his band from Kansas City to Los Angeles, hell bent on getting there in three days.
    — Jill Goldsmith, Deadline, 14 Aug. 2026
  • In recent years, mischievous younger brother Prince Louis often steals the show with his cheeky antics.
    — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of steals
Noun
  • After making off with the paintings, initial reports of the robbery came from local passersby who saw the fleeing burglars—not the museum’s workers.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 17 Aug. 2026
  • The would-be burglars targeted a home in Pasadena, California.
    — Abigail Velez, ABC News, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of burglars
Verb
  • Shields' younger daughter inherited her love of fashion and regularly swipes designer pieces from her closet.
    — Francesca Gariano, PEOPLE, 24 June 2026
  • Geomagnetic conditions are expected to intensify late tonight into early tomorrow, if the CME swipes Earth, according to the latest forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC).
    — Michele Laufik, Martha Stewart, 12 May 2026
Definition of swipes

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thievery
thieves
thieving
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Cite this Entry

“Thieves.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/thieves. Accessed 25 Aug. 2026.

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More from Merriam-Webster on thieves

Nglish: Translation of thieves for Spanish Speakers

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