Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to pilfer
Participle: pilfered
Gerund: pilfering
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | pilfer |
| you | pilfer |
| he;she;it | pilfers |
| we | pilfer |
| you | pilfer |
| they | pilfer |
Perfect
| I | have pilfered |
| you | have pilfered |
| he;she;it | has pilfered |
| we | have pilfered |
| you | have pilfered |
| they | have pilfered |
Past
| I | pilfered |
| you | pilfered |
| he;she;it | pilfered |
| we | pilfered |
| you | pilfered |
| they | pilfered |
Pluperfect
| I | had pilfered |
| you | had pilfered |
| he;she;it | had pilfered |
| we | had pilfered |
| you | had pilfered |
| they | had pilfered |
Future
| I | will pilfer |
| you | will pilfer |
| he;she;it | will pilfer |
| we | will pilfer |
| you | will pilfer |
| they | will pilfer |
Future Perfect
| I | will have pilfered |
| you | will have pilfered |
| he;she;it | will have pilfered |
| we | will have pilfered |
| you | will have pilfered |
| they | will have pilfered |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | pilfer |
| you | pilfer |
| he;she;it | pilfer |
| we | pilfer |
| you | pilfer |
| they | pilfer |
Perfect
| I | have pilfered |
| you | have pilfered |
| he;she;it | have pilfered |
| we | have pilfered |
| you | have pilfered |
| they | have pilfered |
Imperfect
| I | pilfered |
| you | pilfered |
| he;she;it | pilfered |
| we | pilfered |
| you | pilfered |
| they | pilfered |
Pluperfect
| I | had pilfered |
| you | had pilfered |
| he;she;it | had pilfered |
| we | had pilfered |
| you | had pilfered |
| they | had pilfered |
Conditional
Present
| I | would pilfer |
| you | would pilfer |
| he;she;it | would pilfer |
| we | would pilfer |
| you | would pilfer |
| they | would pilfer |
Perfect
| I | would have pilfered |
| you | would have pilfered |
| he;she;it | would have pilfered |
| we | would have pilfered |
| you | would have pilfered |
| they | would have pilfered |
Imperative
| you | pilfer |
| we | Let's pilfer |
| you | pilfer |
Verbs conjugated like 'pilfer'
abandon,
abduct,
abear,
aberr,
abject,
abord,
abort,
abound,
abraid,
abray,
abrook,
abscind,
abscond,
absist,
absorb,
abstain,
abstract,
accend,
accent,
accept, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'pilfer'
pilger,
differ,
filter,
infer,
niffer,
palter,
philter,
pile,
pillar,
pincer,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to take something that does not belong to one
- abduct, abstract, appropriate, bag, bandit, bone, boost, borrow, burglarize, burgle, cheat, chore, convert, cop, cozen, crib, embezzle, filch, fleece, flog, gaffle, half-inch, heist, jack, kidnap, knock off, kype, kyper, liberate, lift, loot, make off with, mill, misappropriate, moonlight requisition, nick, own, peculate, pickpocket, pillage, pinch, pirate, plunder, poach, pocket, prig, purloin, raid, ransack, rape, reave, rip, rip off, rob, run off with, snag, snatch, steal, swindle, swipe, thieve, walk off with
- steal
- rob, filch, purloin, embezzle, appropriate, snitch, heist, pinch
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
From earlier pilfre, from Middle English pilfre (“booty”), from Old French pelfre (“plunder, booty, spoils”), of unknown origin. Compare pelf.
Sample Sentences
-
pilfer goods
-
pilfer from a store
-
pilfer small items
-
The boy tried to pilfer sweets from the shop.
-
Office supplies often get pilfered by employees.
-
The truck carrying 413,793 units of a “new chocolate range”, about 12 tons of chocolate bars, was pilfered while driving through Europe on 26 March, Agence France-Presse reported. [2026 March 28, Gloria Oladipo, “Sugar high(st): more than twelve tons of KitKat’s ‘new chocolate range’ stolen in Italy”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 29 Mar 2026:]