A.Word.A.Day --light-fingered

A.Word.A.Day

About | Media | Search | Contact

Home

Today's Word

light-fingered

PRONUNCIATION:

(lyt-FING-uhrd, LYT-fing-)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Prone to or skilled at stealing.
2. Having nimble fingers or having a light touch.

ETYMOLOGY:

From light, from Old English leoht + finger, from Old English. Earliest documented use: 1546. A synonym of the first sense is sticky-fingered.

USAGE:

“Every country has its charlatans and rogues, be they light-fingered British MPs or pork-happy American congressmen.”
Because We’re Worth It; The Economist (London, UK); Jul 12, 2014.

See more usage examples of light-fingered in Vocabulary.com’s dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

Real misanthropes are not found in solitude, but in the world; since it is experience of life, and not philosophy, which produces real hatred of mankind. -Giacomo Leopardi, poet, essayist, and philosopher (29 Jun 1798-1837)

What they say

“Anu Garg triggers the kind of passionate reaction that actors, authors and memoirists would die for.”
Read more

More articles

Anu Garg on words

“Overall, the universe’s apostrophe store stays in balance. It seems our linguistic world was intelligently designed -- for every gratuitous apostrophe there’s an instance where it’s omitted.”

We need your help

Help us continue to spread the magic of words to readers everywhere

Donate

Subscriber Services
Awards | Stats | Links | Privacy Policy
Contribute | Advertise