Phrase guide

opportunity makes the thief

proverb · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

proverb

Meaning 1

People are more likely to steal something if presented with a convenient opportunity to do so.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

7 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Finnish: tilaisuus tekee varkaan — proverb
  • German: Gelegenheit macht Diebe — proverb
  • Italian: l'occasione fa l'uomo ladro — proverb
  • Polish: okazja czyni złodzieja — proverb
  • Russian: пло́хо не клади́, во́ра в грех не вводи́ (plóxo ne kladí, vóra v grex ne vvodí) — proverb
  • Spanish: en arca abierta el justo peca — proverb
  • Spanish: la ocasión hace ladrón — proverb