Meanings
present singular third person pilfers · participle present pilfering · participle past pilfered · past pilfered · alternative obsolete pilfre
- ambitransitiveTo steal in small quantities, or articles of small value; to practise petty theft.
pilfer goods
5 more examples
pilfer from a store
pilfer small items
The boy tried to pilfer sweets from the shop.
Office supplies often get pilfered by employees.
The truck carrying 413,793 units of a “new chocolate range”, about 12 tons of chocolate bars, was pilfered while driving through Europe on 26 March, Agence France-Presse reported.
2026 March 28, Gloria Oladipo, “Sugar high(st): more than twelve tons of KitKat’s ‘new chocolate range’ stolen in Italy”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2026
Synonyms & antonyms
verbmake off with belongings of others
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchpelfre“plunder, booty, spoils”
- Middle Englishpilfre“booty”
- Englishpilfer
From earlier pilfre, from Middle English pilfre (“booty”), from Old French pelfre (“plunder, booty, spoils”), of unknown origin. Compare pelf.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian отмъквам, върша дребни кражби
- отмъквам (otmăkvam)to steal in small quantities
- върша дребни кражби (vărša drebni kražbi)to steal in small quantities
Chinese Mandarin 扒竊 /扒窃, 偷竊 /偷窃
- 扒竊 /扒窃 (páqiè)to steal in small quantities
- 偷竊 /偷窃 (tōuqiè)to steal in small quantities
- 小偷小摸 (xiǎotōuxiǎomō)to steal in small quantities
- 東偷西摸 /东偷西摸 (dōngtōuxīmō)to steal in small quantities
- 偷雞摸狗 /偷鸡摸狗 (tōujīmōgǒu)to steal in small quantities
Czech ukrádat, rozkrádat
- ukrádatto steal in small quantities
- rozkrádatto steal in small quantities
Dutch stelen, jatten
- stelento steal in small quantities
- jattento steal in small quantities
Esperanto ŝteleti
- ŝteletito steal in small quantities
Estonian näppama
- näppamato steal in small quantities
Finnish näpistää, näpistellä
- näpistääto steal in small quantities
- näpistelläto steal in small quantities
French piquer, chaparder
- piquerto steal in small quantities
- chaparderto steal in small quantities
German klauen, stehlen
- klauento steal in small quantities
- stehlento steal in small quantities
- stibitzento steal in small quantities
- mopsento steal in small quantities
- abziehento steal in small quantities
- mausento steal in small quantities
- mitgehen lassento steal in small quantities
Hungarian dézsmál, lopkod
- dézsmálto steal in small quantities
- lopkodto steal in small quantities
Italian rubacchiare
- rubacchiareto steal in small quantities
Latin surpō
- surpōto steal in small quantities
Māori kaiā
- kaiāto steal in small quantities
Polish podkradać, podkraść
- podkradaćto steal in small quantities
- podkraśćto steal in small quantities
Portuguese surripiar, surrupiar
- surripiarto steal in small quantities
- surrupiarto steal in small quantities
Russian ворова́ть, красть
- ворова́ть (vorovátʹ)to steal in small quantities
- красть (krastʹ)to steal in small quantities
- таска́ть (taskátʹ)to steal in small quantities
- раста́скивать (rastáskivatʹ)to steal in small quantities
- разворо́вывать (razvoróvyvatʹ)to steal in small quantities
Spanish sisar, ratear
- sisarto steal in small quantities
- ratearto steal in small quantities
Swedish snatta
- snattato steal in small quantities
Tagalog mangupit, kumupit
- mangupitto steal in small quantities
- kumupitto steal in small quantities
Welsh chwiwladrata
- chwiwladratato steal in small quantities
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
pilfer. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilfer
“pilfer.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilfer. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “pilfer,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/pilfer.
Source: pilfer on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.