surreptitious

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“
This was not exactly a Willy Wonka moment for the surreptitious, as my wife regards herself.

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Definitions (7)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. adjective Obtained, done, or made by clandestine or stealthy means.
  2. adjective Acting with or marked by stealth. See Synonyms at secret.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (2)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

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Examples (50)

  • Yours have the sole advantage of moving one to resignation, while mine excite my vanity terribly—a kind of surreptitious vanity, not before the eyes of people, but all to myself; merely for the sake of the studs, not for effect. —  Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt, Volume 2
  • The reverend Thomas Broughton The State poems_, in which the essay is ascribed to Dryden, may be called a surreptitious publication: it carries no authority. —  Notes and Queries, Number 70, March 1, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc.
  • He had heard it whispered that the authorities had received a hint from their spies on the other side to look out for a yacht which was suspected of having on board contraband for the use of the insurgents; but he argued that the vessel in question could scarcely be the craft owned by this young man, for the simple reason that there appeared to be nothing of a surreptitious or secret nature in his movements, or in those of his yacht, which, as he understood, was, or would very shortly be, in Havana harbour. —  The Cruise of the Thetis A Tale of the Cuban Insurrection
  • I always greatly enjoyed these visits to the lower regions, for two reasons; the first of which was that they were surreptitious, and much caution was needed, or supposed to be needed, in order that my journey down-stairs might be accomplished without "master's" knowledge; the remaining reason for my enjoyment being that I generally heard something which interested me. —  The Rover's Secret A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba
  • Directly I saw him I felt a doubt of him; there was a kind of surreptitious viciousness showing in his sour smile that warned me. —  Vrouw Grobelaar and Her Leading Cases Seventeen Short Stories
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Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, from Latin surreptīcius, from surreptus, past participle of surripere, to take away secretly : sub-, secretly; see sub- + rapere, to seize; see rep- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also subreptitious; = Old French surreptice, subreptice = Spanish subrepticio, subreticio = Italian surrettizio, from Latin surrepticius, subrepticius, surreptitius, subreptitius, stolen, clandestine, (surripere, subripere, take away secretly: see surrept.
 

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/sərɛpˈtɪʃəs/
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