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

IPA^(key): [do̞ɾo̞bo̞ː]
(Tokyo) どろぼー [dòróbóó] (Heiban – [0])^[1]^[2]^[3]

Noun

泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) • (dorobō) ^{←どろばう (dorobau)^?}

thief
Synonyms: 盗っ人 (nusutto), 盗人 (nusubito), 盗賊 (tōzoku)
theft

Usage notes

May be written in katakana to impart an informal tone, as ドロボー (dorobō).

Derived terms

噓(うそ)つきは泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)の始(はじ)まり (usotsuki wa dorobō no hajimari, “Someone who can lie with ease will not think theft is bad.”)
御(お)目(め)見(み)得(え)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (o-memie dorobō)
火(か)事(じ)場(ば)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (kajiba dorobō, “looter at the scene of a fire; someone who takes advantage of confusion for dishonest personal gain”)
給(きゅう)料(りょう)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (kyūryō dorobō)
車(くるま)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (kuruma dorobō, “auto theft; car thief”)
月(げっ)給(きゅう)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (gekkyū dorobō, “freeloader; slacker”)
こそこそ泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (kosokoso dorobō, “sneak thief; cat burglar; petty thief”)
粉(こな)屋(や)の泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (konaya no dorobō, “a heavily made-up woman”)
税(ぜい)金(きん)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (zeikin dorobō, “tax parasite (e.g. public servant, politician, welfare recipient, etc.); tax thief”)
説(せっ)教(きょう)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (sekkyō dorobō, “burglar who preaches at the victim about the methods of preventing similar crimes”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)稼(か)業(ぎょう) (dorobō kagyō, “professional thievery”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)削(けず)り (dorobō kezuri, “pencil sharpened at both ends”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)根(こん)性(じょう) (dorobō konjō, “underhand character; thievish nature”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)上(じょう)戸(ご) (dorobō jōgo)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)政(せい)治(じ) (dorobō seiji, “kleptocracy”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)政(せい)治(じ)家(か) (dorobō seijika, “kleptocrat”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)に追(お)い銭(せん) (dorobō ni oisen, “to throw good money after bad”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)にも三(さん)分(ぶ)の道(どう)理(り) (dorobō ni mo sanbu no dōri)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)猫(ねこ) (dorobō neko, “thieving cat; adulterer; home wrecker”)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)回(まわ)り (dorobō mawari)
泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)を捕(と)らえて縄(なわ)を綯(な)う (dorobō o toraete nawa o nau, “to start something in the eleventh hour”)
墓(はか)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (haka dorobō, “graverobber; graverobbing”)
花(はな)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (hana dorobō, “flower thief; stealing flowers”)
花(はな)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)は罪(つみ)にならない (hana dorobō wa tsumi ni naranai)
半(はん)鐘(しょう)泥(どろ)棒(ぼう) (hanshō dorobō, “a very tall person”)
人(ひと)を見(み)たら泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)と思(おも)え (hito o mitara dorobō to omoe, “don't trust someone else rashly”)

Verb

泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)する • (dorobō suru) ^{←どろばう (dorobau)^?}transitive or intransitive suru (stem 泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)し (dorobō shi), past 泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)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(かせ)ぎもないくせに、ムダ食(ぐ)いやムダ使(づか)いがやめられない五人(ごにん)の宿(やど)なしパンパンが、今(いま)まで泥(どろ)棒(ぼう)しなかったのが珍(めずら)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.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "泥棒する" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs)
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

^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN
^ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, editor (2016), NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典 [New NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary] (in Japanese), Tokyo: NHK Publishing, Inc., →ISBN
^ Yamada, Tadao et al., editors (2020), 新明解国語辞典 [Shin Meikai Kokugo Jiten] (in Japanese), Eighth edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN

泥棒