stolen

verb

Definition of stolennext
past participle of steal
1
as in robbed
to take (something) without right and with an intent to keep the guy who tried to steal my car was sentenced to a year in jail

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sneaked
to move about in a sly or secret manner the teenagers were able to steal past a security guard and enter the fairgrounds without paying admission

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of stolen Replacing Milwaukee's Excalibur A sword stolen from a stone 80 years ago is returning to its rightful place thanks to the efforts of a local nonprofit group. — Steven Martinez, jsonline.com, 30 Aug. 2026 In March, more than 400,000 KitKat candy bars were stolen from an Italian production site. — Andrew J. Campa, Los Angeles Times, 30 Aug. 2026 The artworks were stolen in less than three minutes, local media reported. — CBS News, 28 Aug. 2026 At least a dozen firearms were also recovered at the home, two of which have already been confirmed stolen, Hudak told the Miami Herald. — Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald, 28 Aug. 2026 More recently, Renaissance artworks by painter Antonello da Messina were stolen from the Museo Regionale di Messina in the city of Messina in Sicily on August 15. — News Desk, Artforum, 28 Aug. 2026 In 2003, Benvenuto Cellini’s gold-and-enamel Saliera, then valued at roughly €50 million ($58 million), was stolen from Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum by a thief who climbed scaffolding and entered through a window. — Daniel Cassady, ARTnews.com, 28 Aug. 2026 The film follows a woman who loses her voice after her mother’s funeral and her family’s belief that it was stolen. — Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 28 Aug. 2026 Lamb, 27, had four luxury bags stolen from his home, as the burglar entered through a broken window on the property. — Nick Harris, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 23 Aug. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for stolen
  1. robbed
  2. sneaked
  3. hijacked
  4. slipped
  5. pilfered
  6. filched
  7. purloined
  8. swiped
Verb
  • In October 2025, jewelry worth $102 million was robbed from the Louvre in Paris.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 28 Aug. 2026
  • Named after Blythe Street — a short thoroughfare flanked by overcrowded apartments — the crew had robbed, stole, peddled drugs and shot up rivals since the 1980s, seemingly untroubled by the city of Los Angeles’ attempts to defeat it.
    — Matthew Ormseth, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of robbed
Verb
  • The couple snuck off the next weekend and got married on May 30, 1966 at the Ringgold Baptist Church in Ringgold, Ga.
    — Hannah Sacks, PEOPLE, 26 Aug. 2026
  • While Bad Sisters snuck a nuanced portrait of sisterhood into a frantic whodunit, Youth lets its characters steep in the weirdness of ordinary life.
    — Joy Press, Vanity Fair, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of sneaked
Verb
  • Set in Massachusetts in 1858, the novel tells the story of a 15-year-old boy who gets trapped aboard a schooner as it gets hijacked.
    — Adam Harrington, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026
  • That is up from Politico’s report that Somali pirates had seized at least three tankers carrying oil and fertilizer since April, while a chemical-carrying ship was hijacked off Yemen in July.
    — Joshua Hong, Fortune, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of hijacked
Verb
  • Planned production was delayed by more than two years, while initial operational capability has slipped by roughly three and a half years to the third quarter of fiscal year 2030.
    — Kaif Shaikh, Interesting Engineering, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Finally, Brent Brennan’s first year at Arizona in 2024 went so badly (the Wildcats slipped from 10-3 to 4-8) there were rumors he might get fired before Year 2.
    — Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of slipped
Verb
  • Most pilfered of anyone in recent seasons are Brighton & Hove Albion, where, since the summer of 2021, 10 players have departed for a ‘Big Six’ club.
    — Chris Weatherspoon, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026
  • In the 10th minute, Neil El Aynaoui pilfered the ball from Ryan Christie, then nearly capitalized on the ensuing counterattack, finding free space in front of an open net but overrunning Azzedine Ounahi’s cross.
    — Zack Cox, Boston Herald, 20 June 2026
Definition of pilfered
Verb
  • Many people are too embarrassed to report they’ve been filched.
    — Lew Sichelman, Miami Herald, 7 May 2026
Definition of filched
Verb
  • The thieves also purloined a small double-sided painting, with the Virgin and Child on one side and Christ on the other, that the Sicilian regional government had bought from the auction house Christie's back in 2003.
    — Willem Marx, NPR, 16 Aug. 2026
  • While the fuel-oil tax-dodge is a relatively recent phenomenon, purloined Mexican fuel, known simply as huachicol, has circulated for decades.
    — Foreign Correspondent, Los Angeles Times, 3 Aug. 2026
Definition of purloined
Verb
  • Ewing swiped two bases to give him 21 steals, tied with Gregg Jefferies (1989) for third-most in team history by a rookie.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Irving swiped through the flirtations without a second glance.
    — Eric Lach, New Yorker, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of swiped

Browse Nearby Words

stole (from)
stolen
stolen (from)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Stolen.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stolen. Accessed 2 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of dissonant

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

A List of Most Commonly Confused Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke

Ye Olde Nincompoop: Old-Fashioned Words for 'Stupid'

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

The Longest Long Words List

Stay Woke
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
skateboard-dog-hat
Wordmaxxing Slang Quiz Give your vocabulary a glow up by getting sendy w...
See All