it takes a thief to catch a thief
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Only someone familiar with dishonest tactics can outsmart a dishonest person.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Chỉ có người quen thuộc với chiến thuật không trung thực mới có thể đánh bại người không trung thực
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “it takes a thief to catch a thief” mean?
Only someone familiar with dishonest tactics can outsmart a dishonest person.
Is “it takes a thief to catch a thief” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.