thievery

/ˈθiːv.(ə)ɹ.i/

//ˈθiːv.(ə)ɹ.i// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"thievery" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“thievery” is uncommon English (frequency #50,843 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#50,843
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of theft, the act of stealing.

Corpus desk

Index EN-thievery · thievery · English

thievery · rank #50,843 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #50,843
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Thurmond

Nearest frequency peer: Thurmond (+2 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Long-tail ranks near “thievery”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “thievery” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for thievery
PropertyValue
Headwordthievery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈθiːv.(ə)ɹ.i/
Letters8
Frequency rank#50,843
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “thievery” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).thieveryfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Thurmond” (#50,845), “tiffin” (#50,846), “thereupon” (#50,839). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “thievery” is #50,843. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

thievery is uncommon English at frequency #50,843 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈθiːv.(ə)ɹ.i/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for thievery in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From thieve + -ery. Compare Old Frisian deverie ("thievery; theft"; > West Frisian dieverij; Saterland Frisian Däiweräi), Dutch dieverij (“thievery”), German Low German Deveree (“thievery; theft”), German Dieberei (“thievery”), Danish tyveri (“thievery; the… The correct English form is thievery, spelled T-H-I-E-V-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of theft, the act of stealing.
  2. 2
    That which is stolen.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how thievery appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. This instance of thievery will not be overlooked.
  2. One thief may well have the power to achieve a certain amount of success in fulfilling his desires to possess the property of another. But thievery being what it is, it feeds that desire in an intemperate way, and so the desire grows and grows.

Etymology

From thieve + -ery. Compare Old Frisian deverie ("thievery; theft"; > West Frisian dieverij; Saterland Frisian Däiweräi), Dutch dieverij (“thievery”), German Low German Deveree (“thievery; theft”), German Dieberei (“thievery”), Danish tyveri (“thievery; theft; larceny”), Swedish tjuveri (“thievery”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "thievery"?
"thievery" is spelled T-H-I-E-V-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈθiːv.(ə)ɹ.i/.
What does "thievery" mean?
As a noun, "thievery" means: The act of theft, the act of stealing.
How do you pronounce "thievery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "thievery" is /ˈθiːv.(ə)ɹ.i/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "thievery"?
From thieve + -ery. Compare Old Frisian deverie ("thievery; theft"; > West Frisian dieverij; Saterland Frisian Däiweräi), Dutch dieverij (“thievery”), German Low German Deveree (“thievery; theft”), German Dieberei (“thievery”), Danish tyveri (“thi... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "thievery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Thurmond#50,845theorize#50,838Tecumseh#50,834studious#50,824

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list