light-fingered
Americanadjective
-
skillful at or given to pilfering, especially by picking pockets; thievish.
-
having light and nimble fingers.
adjective
Other Word Forms
- light-fingeredness noun
Etymology
Origin of light-fingered
First recorded in 1540–50
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
And he has done so with a light-fingered insouciance that makes every scene incandescent with funny contemporary allusions.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 19, 2026
The owners erected it at the time of the coronavirus pandemic, but keeping out the light-fingered primates was also a prime concern.
From Seattle Times • May 24, 2024
Some great movies do play better in the memory, even if “Asteroid City,” light-fingered and leaden by turns, never quite ascends into their company.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 15, 2023
Writing about Fagin’s light-fingered protégés in “Oliver Twist,” Dickens must have scoured old news articles about the 6,000 pick-pocketing children whose work for gangland bosses carried a death penalty as late as 1808.
From New York Times • May 31, 2019
“Did the light-fingered gentleman ransack the cellars?” the other repeated.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
