What it means
Having fingers a little too quick and a little too loose, prone to slipping things into a pocket when nobody is looking. A light-fingered guest is one you count the spoons after. The lightness is all about how smoothly and silently the hand does its dirty little work.
Usage examples
"The new lad turned out to be light-fingered, the takings kept coming up short until we finally let him go."
"Don't leave your wallet on the bar, the new bartender has a reputation for being light-fingered."
"My cousin was a bit light-fingered as a teenager, but he straightened himself out in the army."
Where it comes from
Compound documented in English from the 16th century, when "light" meant nimble and unburdened, and "fingered" referred to manual dexterity. The phrase originally described any quick-handed worker, but the criminal flavour took hold by Shakespeare's time, when pickpockets in London inn-yards became a fixture. The lightness now belongs almost exclusively to the thief.
Other ways to say it
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