泥棒
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |
|---|---|
| 泥 | 棒 |
| どろ Grade: S (ateji) |
ぼう Grade: 6 (ateji) |
| yutōyomi | |
| Alternative spellings |
|---|
| 泥坊 ドロボー |
Etymology
(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)
Pronunciation
Noun
泥棒 • (dorobō) ←どろばう (dorobau)?
Usage notes
- May be written in katakana to impart an informal tone, as ドロボー (dorobō).
Derived terms
- 噓つきは泥棒の始まり (usotsuki wa dorobō no hajimari, “Someone who can lie with ease will not think theft is bad.”)
- 御目見得泥棒 (o-memie dorobō)
- 火事場泥棒 (kajiba dorobō, “looter at the scene of a fire; someone who takes advantage of confusion for dishonest personal gain”)
- 給料泥棒 (kyūryō dorobō)
- 車泥棒 (kuruma dorobō, “auto theft; car thief”)
- 月給泥棒 (gekkyū dorobō, “freeloader; slacker”)
- こそこそ泥棒 (kosokoso dorobō, “sneak thief; cat burglar; petty thief”)
- 粉屋の泥棒 (konaya no dorobō, “a heavily made-up woman”)
- 税金泥棒 (zeikin dorobō, “tax parasite (e.g. public servant, politician, welfare recipient, etc.); tax thief”)
- 説教泥棒 (sekkyō dorobō, “burglar who preaches at the victim about the methods of preventing similar crimes”)
- 泥棒稼業 (dorobō kagyō, “professional thievery”)
- 泥棒削り (dorobō kezuri, “pencil sharpened at both ends”)
- 泥棒根性 (dorobō konjō, “underhand character; thievish nature”)
- 泥棒上戸 (dorobō jōgo)
- 泥棒政治 (dorobō seiji, “kleptocracy”)
- 泥棒政治家 (dorobō seijika, “kleptocrat”)
- 泥棒に追い銭 (dorobō ni oisen, “to throw good money after bad”)
- 泥棒にも三分の道理 (dorobō ni mo sanbu no dōri)
- 泥棒猫 (dorobō neko, “thieving cat; adulterer; home wrecker”)
- 泥棒回り (dorobō mawari)
- 泥棒を捕らえて縄を綯う (dorobō o toraete nawa o nau, “to start something in the eleventh hour”)
- 墓泥棒 (haka dorobō, “graverobber; graverobbing”)
- 花泥棒 (hana dorobō, “flower thief; stealing flowers”)
- 花泥棒は罪にならない (hana dorobō wa tsumi ni naranai)
- 半鐘泥棒 (hanshō dorobō, “a very tall person”)
- 人を見たら泥棒と思え (hito o mitara dorobō to omoe, “don't trust someone else rashly”)
See also
Verb
泥棒する • (dorobō suru) ←どろばう (dorobau)?transitive or intransitive suru (stem 泥棒し (dorobō shi), past 泥棒した (dorobō shita))
- to thieve, to steal
- 1950, 坂口安吾, 街はふるさと[1], 青空文庫:
- ろくに稼ぎもないくせに、ムダ食いやムダ使いがやめられない五人の宿なしパンパンが、今まで泥棒しなかったのが珍しい。
- Roku ni kasegi mo nai kuse ni, mudagui ya mudazukai ga yamerarenai gonin no yadonashi panpan ga, ima made dorobō shinakatta no ga mezurashii.
- It was extraordinary that these five had not thieved until now, seeing as they were homeless prostitutes who could not stop their wasteful eating habits or wasteful spending despite not making much.
- ろくに稼ぎもないくせに、ムダ食いやムダ使いがやめられない五人の宿なしパンパンが、今まで泥棒しなかったのが珍しい。
Conjugation
| Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 泥棒し | どろぼうし | dorobō shi |
| Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 泥棒し | どろぼうし | dorobō shi |
| Shūshikei ("terminal") | 泥棒する | どろぼうする | dorobō suru |
| Rentaikei ("attributive") | 泥棒する | どろぼうする | dorobō suru |
| Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 泥棒すれ | どろぼうすれ | dorobō sure |
| Meireikei ("imperative") | 泥棒せよ¹ 泥棒しろ² |
どろぼうせよ¹ どろぼうしろ² |
dorobō seyo¹ dorobō shiro² |
| Key constructions | |||
| Passive | 泥棒される | どろぼうされる | dorobō sareru |
| Causative | 泥棒させる 泥棒さす |
どろぼうさせる どろぼうさす |
dorobō saseru dorobō sasu |
| Potential | 泥棒できる | どろぼうできる | dorobō dekiru |
| Volitional | 泥棒しよう | どろぼうしよう | dorobō shiyō |
| Negative | 泥棒しない | どろぼうしない | dorobō shinai |
| Negative continuative | 泥棒せず | どろぼうせず | dorobō sezu |
| Formal | 泥棒します | どろぼうします | dorobō shimasu |
| Perfective | 泥棒した | どろぼうした | dorobō shita |
| Conjunctive | 泥棒して | どろぼうして | dorobō shite |
| Hypothetical conditional | 泥棒すれば | どろぼうすれば | dorobō sureba |
¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
References
- “泥棒”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia][2] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026