手脚不干净

手腳不乾淨
shǒujiǎobùgānjìng
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 thieving
  2. 2 light-fingered
  3. 3 prone to stealing
  4. 4 having sticky fingers

Examples

Gōngsī bù huì gùyòng shǒujiǎobùgānjìng de yuángōng.
The company won't hire employees who have sticky fingers.
Línjū shuō nàgè nánhái shǒujiǎobùgānjìng, cháng tōu dōngxī.
The neighbors say that boy is light-fingered and often steals things.

Tips

memory
Literally 'hands and feet not clean' — a polite, indirect way to say someone steals. Compare English 'sticky fingers'. The euphemism softens the accusation: rather than 'thief', you say their hands aren't quite clean.

Stroke Order

shǒu
jiǎo
gàn
jìng