Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏋️ A weightlifter 🛠️ A lifting device 🛍️ A shoplifter
lifter

lifter

1 7.9
A person who steals goods from a shop by hiding them
  • noun
  • /ˈlɪftər/
  • Jargon
translation icon : ladrón
  • The store's security cameras caught a lifter stealing several expensive jackets.

Examples

  • -Some shirt-lifter from Birmingham.

    Velvet Goldmine (1998)

  • Your weight lifter.

    The Hotel New Hampshire (1984)

  • After the recent robbery, the mall increased security to deter any lifters from coming back.

  • The police arrested a notorious lifter who had been stealing electronics from local shops.

Synonyms

thief
vslifter
754 1.0

A person who takes someone else's things without permission

is the shop-specific act of concealing goods rather than general theft
shoplifter
vslifter
18 3.1

A person who steals things from a shop while pretending to be a customer

is about stealing shop goods specifically by concealing them
stealer
vslifter
4 4.6

A person who takes things that belong to others without permission

is specifically about taking and concealing goods from a shop
sneak thief
vslifter
2 7.6

A person who secretly steals things without using force

focuses on hiding shop goods when leaving rather than general furtive theft
larcenist
vslifter
  • Archaic
1 9.2

A person who steals things

is narrower, meaning shop theft by concealing goods specifically
booster
vslifter
  • Slang
1 8.8

A person who steals goods from shops by hiding them

refers to the same shop concealment act but uses a different term
pilferer
vslifter
1 7.3

A person who steals small things without using force

highlights shop concealment rather than the small size of stolen items
purloiner
vslifter
9.6

A person who steals things secretly

is specific to taking goods from shops by concealing them
larcener
vslifter
  • Archaic
9.9

A person who illegally takes other people's things

is narrower by focusing on concealed theft from stores

How Experienced

sticky-finger
  • Offensive
2 9.9
lifter
  • Jargon
1 7.9

Surface Forms

lifter singular
lifters plural

Morphology

lifter = lift (semi-transparent) = lift + er

The agentive form is regular, but this sense relies on the informal sense of 'lift' = 'steal', which learners may not know from the core meaning 'raise'.

Etymology

Lifter comes from the verb lift, which in informal English can mean 'to steal', plus the ending -er 'one who does'. So a lifter in a store is someone who 'lifts' goods by hiding them and taking them away.