चोर (chor)
noun/adjective
Primarily a concrete noun meaning 'thief', with a common figurative/adjectival extension describing someone sneaky or evasive.
Sense
1
:
a person who steals
noun, masculine
Synonyms: चोर (chor)
Frequency: high
Cultural Note: चोर चोर मौसेरे भाई (chor chor mausere bhaaii, 'thieves are cousins') is a widely used proverb about people with shared guilt covering for each other -- you will hear it in everyday banter about office politics or family disputes. चोर (chor) is also the classic villain in children's games and old Bollywood plots, so it carries a slightly folkloric, larger-than-life flavor beyond just 'criminal'.
Common Mistakes: 1) Learners sometimes assume चोर (chor) is invariant like दोस्त (dost), but it actually inflects as a regular -आ (aa) ending masculine noun in the oblique and plural (see morphology). 2) डाकू (daakoo) is a more violent 'bandit/dacoit', not interchangeable with चोर (chor) for petty theft.
Sample Sentences:
रात को घर में एक चोर घुस आया।
A thief sneaked into the house at night.
(raat ko ghar men ek chor ghus aayaa।)
पुलिस चोर को पकड़ रही है।
The police are catching the thief.
(pulis chor ko pakad rahii hai।)
चोर! चोर! पकड़ो उसे!
Thief! Thief! Catch him!
(chor! chor! pakdo use!)
अगर वह असली चोर होता, तो इतनी आसानी से पकड़ा नहीं जाता।
If he were a real thief, he wouldn't have been caught so easily.
(agar vah aslii chor hotaa, to itnii aasaanii se pakdaa nahiin jaataa।)
बचपन में हम छुपन-छुपाई में चोर-पुलिस खेलते थे।
In our childhood, we used to play thief-and-police during hide-and-seek.
(bachpan men ham chhupan-chhupaaii men chor-pulis khelte the।)
कल रात चोरों ने पूरे मोहल्ले में तीन घरों को निशाना बनाया।
Last night, thieves targeted three houses in the whole neighborhood.
(kal raat choron ne poore mohalle men tiin gharon ko nishaanaa banaayaa।)
जब भी कोई घोटाला सामने आता है, सारे चोर एक-दूसरे को बचाते हैं -- चोर चोर मौसेरे भाई।
Whenever a scandal comes out, all the thieves protect each other -- thieves are cousins.
(jab bhii koii ghotaalaa saamne aataa hai, saare chor ek-doosre ko bachaate hain -- chor chor mausere bhaaii।)
चोर को अदालत में सज़ा दी जाएगी।
The thief will be punished in court.
(chor ko adaalat men sazaa dii jaaegii।)
क्या तुम्हें पता है कि दुकान का चोर कौन था?
Do you know who the shop's thief was?
(kyaa tumhen pataa hai ki dukaan kaa chor kaun thaa?)
मुमकिन है कि चोर अभी भी इसी इलाके में छिपा हो।
It's possible that the thief is still hiding in this very area.
(mumkin hai ki chor abhii bhii isii ilaake men chhipaa ho।)
पुरानी फिल्मों में चोर अक्सर काले कपड़े और नकाब पहने दिखाया जाता था।
In old films, the thief was often shown wearing black clothes and a mask.
(puraanii philmon men chor aksar kaale kapde aur nakaab pahne dikhaayaa jaataa thaa।)
Sense
2
:
sneaky, deceitful, evasive (of a person or their manner)
adjective Used attributively or predicatively about a person's demeanor, e.g. describing shifty eyes or a guilty, evasive look -- चोर नज़रें (chor nazren, 'shifty/guilty eyes') is a fixed, very common collocation.
Synonyms: चालाक (chaalaak), धूर्त (dhoort, literary)
Frequency: medium
Cultural Note: You'll often hear चोर नज़र (chor nazar) or आँखें चुराना (aankhen churaanaa, 'to steal one's eyes/avoid eye contact') used together -- Hindi frames guilt and evasiveness visually, through the eyes, much more than English does.
Common Mistakes: 1) This adjectival sense is invariant in practice -- it does not take the usual -आ/-ई (aa/ii) gender agreement the way ordinary adjectives do; learners sometimes wrongly feminize it to चोरी (chorii) by confusing it with the noun चोरी (chorii, 'theft').
Sample Sentences:
उसकी चोर नज़रें देखकर मुझे शक हो गया।
Seeing his sneaky glances, I became suspicious.
(uskii chor nazren dekhkar mujhe shak ho gayaa।)
वह हमेशा चोर नज़रों से इधर-उधर देखता रहता है।
He's always looking around with sneaky, shifty eyes.
(vah hameshaa chor nazron se idhar-udhar dekhtaa rahtaa hai।)
जब मैंने उससे सवाल पूछा, तो वह चोर नज़रों से आँखें चुराने लगा।
When I asked him the question, he started avoiding eye contact shiftily.
(jab mainne usse savaal poochhaa, to vah chor nazron se aankhen churaane lagaa।)
इतनी चोर नज़र मत बना, सीधे मुँह पर बात कर।
Don't make such a sneaky face, say it to my face directly.
(itnii chor nazar mat banaa, siidhe munh par baat kar।)
अगर उसकी नीयत चोर न होती, तो वह इतना घबराता नहीं।
If his intentions weren't so sneaky, he wouldn't be this nervous.
(agar uskii niiyat chor n hotii, to vah itnaa ghabraataa nahiin।)
उसका चोर मन कभी सीधी बात नहीं करता।
His sneaky mind never speaks straight.
(uskaa chor man kabhii siidhii baat nahiin kartaa।)
मुझे लगता है कि उसका इरादा कहीं चोर है।
I feel like his intentions are a bit sneaky somewhere.
(mujhe lagtaa hai ki uskaa iraadaa kahiin chor hai।)
शायद वह चोर निगाहों से मेरी जेब देख रहा था।
Maybe he was eyeing my pocket sneakily.
(shaayad vah chor nigaahon se merii jeb dekh rahaa thaa।)
उसकी चोर मुस्कान से साफ़ पता चल रहा था कि वह कुछ छुपा रहा है।
His sly smile made it clear that he was hiding something.
(uskii chor muskaan se saaf pataa chal rahaa thaa ki vah kuchh chhupaa rahaa hai।)
काश उसकी नज़रें इतनी चोर न होतीं, तो लोग उस पर भरोसा करते।
If only his eyes weren't so sneaky, people would trust him.
(kaash uskii nazren itnii chor n hotiin, to log us par bharosaa karte।)
Morphology
Noun
(sg.m.direct):
चोर
(chor)
(sg.m.oblique):
चोर
(chor)
(pl.m.direct):
चोर
(chor)
(pl.m.oblique):
चोरों
(choron)
Adjective (invariant)
invariant:
चोर
(chor)