Definition

1. Noun (slang): A thief, especially a pickpocket or a sneak thief.
   • This term is used informally to refer to someone who steals, often in a clever or sneaky manner.

Usage Examples

• (A thief who steals by picking pockets or sneaking.)
• (A pickpocket or thief known for dexterity.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be a gonoph": to be characterized as a thief or dishonest person.
  • He was known as a gonoph from his youth, always taking what wasn't his. (He had a reputation as a thief.)

Variants and Related Words

• Gonoph (alternative spelling): The same word, spelled differently.
  • The detective used the term gonoph to describe the pickpocket. (Same meaning as gonoph.)

Synonyms

• Pickpocket: a thief who steals from people's pockets.
• Sneak thief: a thief who steals without being noticed.
• Kleptomaniac: a person with a compulsive urge to steal (not necessarily a professional thief).

Related Idioms

• "Light-fingered gonoph": a thief who is especially skillful at stealing without detection.
  • The light-fingered gonoph moved through the crowd, lifting wallets with ease. (A particularly adept pickpocket.)

Notes

• This word is primarily used in British slang and is considered somewhat archaic or literary in modern usage. It appears in works by authors like Charles Dickens.