Pickpocket

noun, verb

noun, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    One who steals from the pocket of a passerby, usually by sleight of hand.

    "Old men, young men, and boys, stalwart burglars and highway robbers, slept side by side with wizened pickpockets or cunning-featured area-sneaks."

  2. 2
    a thief who steals from the pockets or purses of others in public places wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To pick pockets; to steal. transitive

    "Vodafone has also dropped its claim against one of Rhys Edwards’s travelling companions – who had been at the same reunion and had his phone pickpocketed two hours later in almost identical circumstances to Rhys Edwards."

Synonyms

All synonyms
cutpursedipdipperfilchflogfoist

Example

More examples

"Some brave passengers caught the pickpocket and turned him over to the police."

Etymology

From pick + pocket.

Related phrases

reverse pickpocketreverse-pickpocketsleight of hand

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.