thick as thieves

adjective

Intimate, close-knit, tight.

Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

adjectivethick as thieves (not comparable)

alternative thick as two thieves · alternative close as thieves

  1. idiomaticnot comparablesimileIntimate, close-knit, tight.

    He and Victoria were as thick as thieves, and are about equal in wickedness.

    1904, Fergus Hume, chapter 9, in The Red Window
    2 more examples

    So the king sneaked into the wigwam and took to his bottle for comfort, and before long the duke tackled HIS bottle; and so in about a half an hour they was as thick as thieves again, and the tighter they got the lovinger they got, and went off a-snoring in each other's arms.

    1884, Mark Twain, chapter 30, in Huckleberry Finn

    President Bush may think he's as thick as thieves with his pal Vladimir Putin, but hopefully someone at the White House is reading the English edition of Pravda.

    2001 October 26, Tony Karon, “What They're Saying About the War”, in Time, retrieved 04 Aug 2015

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
close-knittight

Origin

From thick (“friendly, intimate”), first attested in 1827 as "thick as two thieves".

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan cul i merda, carn i ungla
  • cul i merdaintimate, close-knit
  • carn i unglaintimate, close-knit
Chinese Cantonese 糖黐豆
  • 糖黐豆intimate, close-knit
Dutch dikke mik
  • dikke mikintimate, close-knit
Finnish läheinen, kuin paita ja peppu
  • läheinenintimate, close-knit
  • kuin paita ja peppuintimate, close-knit
French copains comme cochons, comme larrons en foire
  • copains comme cochonsintimate, close-knit
  • comme larrons en foireintimate, close-knit
  • comme cul et chemiseintimate, close-knit
Italian culo e camicia, pappa e ciccia
  • culo e camiciaintimate, close-knit
  • pappa e cicciaintimate, close-knit
Norwegian Bokmål henge sammen som erteris
  • henge sammen som erterisintimate, close-knit
Polish znać się jak łyse konie
  • znać się jak łyse konieintimate, close-knit
Russian водо́й не разольёшь
  • водо́й не разольёшь (vodój ne razolʹjóšʹ)intimate, close-knit
Spanish como uña y mugre
  • como uña y mugreintimate, close-knit
Turkish et tırnak
  • et tırnakintimate, close-knit
Cite this entry
APA

thick as thieves. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thick%20as%20thieves

MLA

“thick as thieves.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thick%20as%20thieves. Accessed November 5, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “thick as thieves,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/thick%20as%20thieves.

Source: thick as thieves on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.