I know that "盗み聞き" would be "Eavesdrop" or "Eavesdropping," but I wasn't sure
if the addition of "とは" modified the word in some way or if it perhaps just
indicated something about the wording.

Edit: For context, the exact line of text is "盗み聞きとは・・・。太陽の使者ともあろうものが行儀が悪いな？"
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2020-01-07T17:10:36.000
73788
2020-01-08T07:52:04.107
2020-01-08T07:52:04.107
36521
36521
question
words nuances
Is there a diffrence between saying "盗み聞き" and "盗み聞きとは?"
In this instance, it's a shortening of something like 盗み聞きとは卑怯な, 盗み聞きとは倫理に悖る,
盗み聞きとは油断も隙もない. What exactly is shortened must be guessed from the context.

It can be used in a very versatile way, e.g. 人助けとは...(殊勝だ), 泣くとは...(情けない),
火事とは...(驚いた).
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-01-07T22:25:40.810
73793
2020-01-07T22:25:40.810
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73788
answer