Somebody took my things without asking me, without my knowledge and didn't return them back to me.
Is 'stolen' word appropriate to represent this situation? (e.g. He stole my things.) If not, what would be the proper word?
EDIT: What incident actually took place: In my absence, someone took the duster and marker pens and never returned them back to me. So I was looking for a suitable word. I googled for meaning of stolen, but I felt it wouldn't be proper to say so.
Best Answer
Technically, "stolen" is a suitable word.
However, depending on a number of factors, different people may use different words in different situations. Example: kleptomania is also stealing. (to be more precise, the result of kleptomania is stealing)
If confronted, the person might claim that it was a simple borrowing, but he did not have a chance to tell you or to return the object - yet.
Note: if that happened in an office (in other places also), using this word loudly, especially with several people present, will surely attract a bad energy on you, and it will destroy some of your reputation.
So in this case, it is much better (politically correct) to say: "took my things without asking me, without my knowledge and didn't return them back to me" - simply because "to steal" is a very strong word.