steal
verb · noun
Simple meaning
Take without the owner's consent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
steelIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈstil
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
Take without the owner's consent
transitive
To take illegally, or without the owner's permission, something owned by someone else without intending to return it.
transitiveof ideaswordsmusica lookcreditetc.
To appropriate without giving credit or acknowledgement.
transitive
To draw attention unexpectedly in (an entertainment), especially by being the outstanding performer. Usually used in the phrase steal the show.
intransitive
To move silently or secretly.
To withdraw or convey (oneself) clandestinely.
noun
The act of stealing.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: Take without the owner's consent
Used this way, steal is a reasonably familiar word with a clearly unfavourable pull. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Gentle
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Serious and weighty
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The act of taking something from someone unlawfully.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Leave furtively and stealthily.
An actor who draws more attention than other actors in the same scene.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.