as in thief
a person who illegally enters a building in order to steal things; a person who commits burglary
The burglar had broken into several homes in the neighborhood.
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Recent Examples of burglar
Nixon’s professed and late-blooming concern for safeguarding the rights of criminal defendants might be a bit hard to swallow; these were, after all, the Watergate burglars.
—
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
From smashing into glass doors as a burglar to attacking with a machete and acting as a ‘dangerous’ nanny, the Unitree G1 was initially tested for its usefulness as an assistant before appearing for the durability tests.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
According to the outlet, a burglar ransacked the property after smashing a glass door to get in while the couple were not at home.
—Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2025
The new season finds Harry and Fergus delving into the worlds of whiskey-making, theatre and musical-tattoos, chasing a gang of middle-aged lady burglars and working to deal with a murder close to home.
—Anne Easton, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for burglar
Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 9 Oct. 2025
From smashing into glass doors as a burglar to attacking with a machete and acting as a ‘dangerous’ nanny, the Unitree G1 was initially tested for its usefulness as an assistant before appearing for the durability tests.
—Atharva Gosavi, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2025
According to the outlet, a burglar ransacked the property after smashing a glass door to get in while the couple were not at home.
—Natalia Senanayake, PEOPLE, 30 Sep. 2025
The new season finds Harry and Fergus delving into the worlds of whiskey-making, theatre and musical-tattoos, chasing a gang of middle-aged lady burglars and working to deal with a murder close to home.
—Anne Easton, Forbes.com, 17 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for burglar
Recent Examples of Synonyms for burglar
Noun
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Believe it or not, this extra step is enough to make most thieves move on to easier prey.—
Katie Jackson,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Oct. 2025
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Police were racing the clock to find the intruders; experts say thieves of such treasures typically dismantle or melt down the loot, sometimes within hours, to avoid being caught.—
Robert Abitbol,
USA Today,
25 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The place is the Savin Bar + Kitchen, in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, where immediately inside the front door, patrons are greeted by a larger-than-life framed mugshot of Bulger — the mob-boss, murderer, bank robber, drug dealer and extortionist — peering cooly out from under his fedora.—
Tovia Smith,
NPR,
24 Oct. 2025
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French police say the robbers entered the Louvre’s first floor using the Böcker lift, broke open two display cases with a power grinder, and escaped on scooters within ten minutes.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Burglar.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/burglar. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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