light-fingered

English

Alternative forms

• lightfingered

Etymology

From light (“not heavy”, adjective) +‎ fingered (“having fingers”, adjective).

Pronunciation

• enPR: lītʹfĭng'gərd

Adjective

light-fingered (comparative lighter-fingered or more light-fingered, superlative lightest-fingered or most light-fingered)

1. Having quick, light and nimble fingers.
2. (figuratively) Having nimble fingers, especially for stealing or picking pockets (pickpocketing), given to thievery or shoplifting.
   • 1848 June 28, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Before the Curtain”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], →OCLC, page vii:

     There is a great quantity of eating and drinking, making love and jilting, laughing and the contrary, smoking, cheating, fighting, dancing and fiddling; […] yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind.

Derived terms

• light-fingeredness (noun)

Translations

having quick, light and nimble fingers

• Bulgarian: изкусен (bg) (izkusen), сръчен (bg) (srǎčen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 手指靈巧的／手指灵巧的 (shǒuzhǐ língqiǎo de)

• Finnish: näppäräsorminen

given to stealing, pickpocketing, thievery, shoplifting

• Bulgarian: крадлив (bg) (kradliv)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 巧手的 (qiǎoshǒu de)

• Finnish: pitkäkyntinen (fi)
• Latin: fūrax, tagax
• Maori: ringa kamakama
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: dedos largos pl or m pl, amigo de lo ajeno (es)

Verb

light-fingered

1. simple past and past participle of light-finger

See also

• sticky-fingered