The Meaning of Heist: What It Is and How To Use It

Do you know the definition of heist? This article will provide you with all of the information you need on the word heist, including its definition, etymology, usage, example sentences, and more!

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What does the word heist mean?

According to Dictionary and Cambridge Dictionary of the English Language, the word heist means a crime in which things are taken illegally, often that are stolen violently from a place or person. For example, a person who takes a million dollars’ worth of diamond jewels from someone at gunpoint would be performing a heist. There are many different forms of heists, from an attempted robbery, to a money heist,  to an armored car heist. There are also many a popular heist film, in which the main plot centers around a robbery, like the diamond heist flick Ocean’s Eight or other quotidian dramas on streaming services like Netflix. These often end with the main characters planning the heist of the century in an interesting way, succeeding, and then planning their next heist in the immediate aftermath of the heist. In real life, there might be drug heists in a shady part of the city. These could incove a stolen wallet, undue harassment, harm to another, or a stolen fortune. There are many different levels of heists, from those performed by a skilled thief to a pickpocketer to an international terrorist. To succeed in a heist, one might have to bypass an alarm system or use code lingo with their co conspirators. People might discover a heist by the sounds of the robbers. 

There are many different languages that contain words that mean heist. You may notice that some of these words look and sound similar to one another. These are called cognates, which are words and phrases that mean the same thing between languages as well as looking and sounding the same. These are often formed when two words have the same root or language of origin. This list of translations is provided by Word Sense

  • Hebrew: פֶּשַׁע‎
  •  Danish: forbrydelse‎ (common)
  •  Korean: 범죄‎ (犯罪‎)
  •  Catalan: crim‎ (masc.), delicte‎ (masc.)
  •  Slovak: zločin‎ (masc.)
  •  Romansch: crim‎ (masc.)
  •  Tagalog: krimen‎
  •  Lithuanian: nusikaltimas‎ (masc.), nusižengimas‎ (masc.)
  •  Vietnamese: tội ác‎, tội phạm‎ (罪犯‎)
  •  Friulian: criminâl‎ (masc.)
  •  Esperanto: krimo‎
  •  Mandarin: 罪‎ (zuì), 罪行‎ (zuìxíng), 刑事犯罪‎ (xíngshì fànzuì), 犯罪‎ (fànzuì)
  •  Latin: scelus‎ (neut.), facinus‎ (neut.), maleficium‎ (neut.)
  •  Finnish: rikos‎
  •  Slovene: zločin‎ (masc.)
  •  Romanian: infracțiune‎, crimă‎ (fem.)
  •  Turkish: suç‎, cinayet‎
  •  Belarusian: злачы́нства‎ (neut.), злачы́н‎ (masc.)
  •  Khmer: បទឧក្រិដ្ឋ‎ (bɑt okkrət), ទោស‎ (tooh)
  •  Luxembourgish: Verbriechen‎
  •  Uzbek: jinoyat‎
  •  Bengali: অপরাধ‎ (ôpôradh)
  •  Cherokee: ᎠᏍᎦᏅᏨ‎ (asganvtsv)
  •  Maori: hara‎, māhie‎, taihara‎
  •  Greek: έγκλημα‎ (neut.), αδίκημα‎ (neut.) (law)
  •  Spanish: delito‎ (masc.)
  •  Italian: crimine‎ (masc.), delitto‎ (masc.), reato‎ (masc.)
  •  Roman: zlòčin‎ (masc.)
  •  Lao: ອາດຊະຍາກຳ‎, ກຳມະໂທດ‎
  •  Bashkir: енәйәт‎
  •  Albanian: krim‎
  •  Hindi: अपराध‎ (masc.)
  •  Malay: jenayah‎
  •  Welsh: trosedd‎ (masc.)
  •  Sinhalese: අපරාධය‎
  •  Swahili: uhalifu‎
  •  Dutch: misdaad‎ (fem.)
  •  Latvian: noziegšanās‎ (masc.), noziegums‎ (masc.)
  •  Tatar: җинаять‎
  •  Turkmen: jenaýat‎
  •  Marathi: बदकर्म‎ (masc.)
  •  Ido: krimino‎
  •  Cyrillic: зло̀чин‎ (masc.)
  •  West Frisian: misdied‎
  •  Yiddish: פֿאַרברעך‎ (neut.), פֿאַרברעכן‎ (neut.)
  •  Japanese: 犯罪‎ (はんざい, hanzai), 罪‎ (つみ, tsumi), 犯行‎ (はんこう, hankō)
  •  Armenian: հանցանք‎
  •  Georgian: დანაშაული‎
  •  Arabic: جَرِيمَة‎ (fem.)
  •  Polish: przestępstwo‎ (neut.), zbrodnia‎ (fem.)
  •  Volapük:
  •  Afrikaans: misdryf‎
  •  Scots: crime‎, wrang-daein‎
  •  Icelandic: glæpur‎ (masc.)
  •  Asturian: delitu‎ (masc.)
  •  Occitan: delicte‎ (masc.)
  •  Irish: coir‎ (fem.), cion‎ (masc.)
  •  Azeri: cinayət‎
  •  Kyrgyz: кылмыш‎
  •  Telugu: నేరము‎
  •  Persian: جرم‎ (jorm), بزه‎ (bezeh)
  •  Kannada: ಅಪರಾಧ‎, ತಕ್ಸೀರು‎
  •  Portuguese: crime‎ (masc.)
  •  Basque: delitua‎
  •  Bokmål: forbrytelse‎
  •  Czech: zločin‎ (masc.), trestný čin‎ (masc.)
  •  Zulu: iseleleso‎
  •  Thai: อาชญากรรม‎ (àat-chá-yaa-gam)
  •  Javanese: angkara‎
  •  Mongolian: гэмт хэрэг‎
  •  Urdu: اپرادھ‎
  •  Tuvan: кем-херек‎
  •  Tajik: ҷиноят‎
  •  Manx: loght‎ (masc.)
  •  Ladin: reat‎ (masc.)
  •  Swedish: brott‎ (neut.)
  •  Tamil: குற்றம்‎
  •  Hawaiian: kalaima‎
  •  Kazakh: қылмыс‎
  •  White Hmong: txhaum‎
  •  Estonian: kuritegu‎
  •  Hungarian: bűntény‎, bűntett‎
  •  Russian: преступле́ние‎ (neut.), злодея́ние‎ (neut.), злоде́йство‎ (neut.)
  •  Bulgarian: престъпле́ние‎ (neut.)
  •  German: Straftat‎ (fem.)
  •  Norman: crînme‎ (masc.)
  •  Ukrainian: зло́чин‎ (masc.)
  •  Gujarati: અપરાધ‎
  •  Faroese: brotsgerð‎ (fem.)
  •  Burmese: ပြစ်မှု‎
  •  Macedonian: злосторство‎ (neut.), злодело‎ (neut.), недело‎ (masc.) 
  •  Galician: delito‎ (masc.), malfeito‎ (masc.)
  •  Indonesian: kejahatan‎, pelanggaran‎, pelanggaran hukum‎ 
  •  Scottish Gaelic: eucoir‎ (fem.)
  •  Maltese: reat‎

What is the origin of the word heist?

According to Etymonline, the word heist has been used as a verb since 1943. This word is implied in the related words heisted and heister, meaning shoplifter or thief, which has been sued since the year 1927. This is an American ENglish slang term that is probably some alteration of the word hoist, meaning to lift. This is related to the word shoplift, meaning to rob a store. This is also related to the British slang sense of to lift someone on one’s shoulders. The word heist has been sued as a noun since 1930. 

What are examples of heist?

The word heist can be used in many different sentences to describe a complex robbery or theft. In this example, Rick and Tony plan their heist.

Rick: In this heist, we are going to steal a million dollars’ worth or jewels from the museum!

Tony: And I am going to steal the love of a woman!

Rick: No, Tony. We’re professional bank robbers, we’re going to steal thin silver chains and nouveau riche treasures, not love!

What are synonyms and antonyms for the word heist?

There are numerous words that have the same meaning as the word heist. These are called synonyms, which are words and phrases that have the same meaning as another word or phrase. Synonyms are a great way to expand your vocabulary and avoid repeating yourself. This list of synonyms for the word heist is provided by Thesaurus

  • vandalism
  • sneak
  • cheating
  • rapacity
  • transgression
  • violation
  • depravity
  • purloining
  • looting
  • illegality
  • heist
  • snatch
  • infraction
  • embezzlement
  • peculation
  • fraud
  • delict
  • defrauding
  • malefaction
  • pilfering
  • crime
  • villainy
  • shoplifting
  • robbery
  • swindle
  • score
  • pinch
  • racket
  • touch
  • plunder
  • larceny
  • wrongdoing
  • caper
  • pillage
  • snitch
  • malfeasance
  • job
  • criminality
  • breach
  • filch
  • wickedness
  • holdup
  • hustle
  • outrage
  • thievery
  • lawlessness
  • grab
  • enormity
  • trespass
  • break-in
  • delinquency
  • mortal sin
  • extortion
  • rip-off
  • unlawful act
  • immorality
  • infringement
  • hit
  • appropriation
  • annexation
  • corruption
  • swiping
  • tort
  • piracy
  • antisocial behavior
  • lift
  • five-finger discount
  • abomination
  • theft
  • swindling
  • iniquity
  • misdemeanor
  • stickup
  • misdeed
  • atrocity
  • case
  • deprivation
  • sting
  • evil
  • fault
  • mugging
  • fleece
  • breaking and entering
  • robbing
  • misconduct
  • wrong
  • vice
  • dereliction
  • burglary
  • evil behavior
  • break
  • felony
  • scandal
  • steal
  • delictum
  • fast one
  • pilferage
  • thieving

There are also numerous different words that mean the opposite of the word heist. These are called antonyms, or “opposite words.” Antonyms are another quick and easy way to expand your English language vocabulary. This list of antonyms for the word heist is also provided by Thesaurus.

  • incorruptibility
  • rectitude
  • morality
  • worthiness
  • respectability
  • prudence
  • kindness
  • ideal
  • character
  • generosity
  • advantage
  • quality
  • excellence
  • love
  • charity
  • good point
  • high-mindedness
  • asset
  • purity
  • value
  • integrity
  • innocence
  • faithfulness
  • chastity
  • plus
  • honor
  • virtue
  • ethicalness
  • probity
  • ethicality
  • temperance
  • fortitude
  • hope
  • faith
  • righteousness
  • trustworthiness
  • merit
  • credit
  • justice
  • uprightness
  • fineness
  • goodness
  • consideration
  • temper
  • ethic
  • worth

Overall, the word heist is a noun that refers to a crime in which things are stolen, often violently. The word heist can be used in many different circumstances, and is a popular topic for many different films. 

Sources:

  1. https://www.wordsense.eu/heist/
  2. https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/virtue
  3. https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/heist
  4. https://www.etymonline.com/word/heist
  5. https://www.dictionary.com/browse/heist
  6. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/heist