cutpurse means A thief who steals from others' purses or pockets in public. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
cutpurse is pronounced /ˈkʌtˌpɜːs/.
Why “cutpurse” is a great word
A thief who historically stole by severing the strings or straps that attached a purse to its owner's belt. The term, emerging as 'cutte-purs' in Middle English, is a blunt compound of 'cut' and 'purse,' describing the precise method required before the advent of pockets, when purses were worn on a strap at the girdle; it was first recorded in the 14th century. Unlike 'pickpocket,' a generalist of digital sleight, or 'highwayman,' a brigand of theatrical confrontation, the cutpurse was a specialist of the blade and the crowd. It is the cold, fleeting kiss of steel in the market press, the sudden, weightless absence at the hip, and the severed cord left dangling—a reminder that the oldest violations are often matters of simple, sharp separation, arriving not with a shout, but with a clean, silent cut.
Etymology
From Middle English cutte-purs; equivalent to cut + purse: originally, purses were worn by a strap at the girdle, which the thief would cut.
noun
- A thief who steals from others' purses or pockets in public.“A cutpurse of the empire and the rule”