sneak thief

• sneakthief

From sneak +‎ thief. Compare Danish snigtyv (literally “sneak thief”).

sneak thief (plural sneak thieves)

1. A thief who steals without being noticed and without using violence.
   • 1922, John Dos Passos, “Antonio Machado: Poet of Castile”, in Rosinante to the Road Again, New York, N.Y.: George H[enry] Doran Company, →OCLC:

     […] travelling gangs of Moorish artisans, heavy armed Templars on their way to the Sepulchre, wandering minstrels, sneakthieves, bawds, rowdy strings of knights and foot-soldiers setting out with wine-skins at their saddlebows to cross the passes towards the debatable lands of Extremadura, […]