Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Obtained, done, or made by clandestine or stealthy means.
- adj. Acting with or marked by stealth. See Synonyms at secret.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Done by stealth, or without legitimate authority; made or produced fraudulently; characterized by concealment or underhand dealing; clandestine.
- Acting in a crafty or stealthy way; guilty of appropriating secretly.
Wiktionary
- adj. stealthy, furtive, well hidden, covert (especially movements)
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Done or made by stealth, or without proper authority; made or introduced fraudulently; clandestine; stealthy.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. conducted with or marked by hidden aims or methods
- adj. marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed
Etymologies
- From Latin surrepticius ("stolen, furtive, clandestine"), from surreptus, past participle of surripere ("seize secretly, steal, pilfer"), from sub- ("under") + rapere ("to snatch"). (Wiktionary)
- 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. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The word surreptitious has appeared in 42 New York Times articles in the past year, including on May 29 in "French Broadcasters Told to Avoid Naming Social Media Sites," by Eric Pfanner:”
“Learn more about the word "surreptitious" and see usage examples across a range of subjects on the Vocabulary.com dictionary.”
“Terrorist will seek and potentially gain surreptitious entry into the United States to conduct mass casualty attacks against Americans on US soil.”
“At its core, “macroeconomic management” is invariably an exercise in surreptitious theft and fraud.”
“When he called a surreptitious meeting to try to get Emmerson”
“Finally, insofar as President Bush has exercised his powers to engage in surreptitious electronic surveillance without court-issued warrants in violation of the FISA, on the basis of an implausibly broad construction of his inherent Article II powers and a reading of the AUMF that was rightly repudiated in a slightly different context by the Supreme Court's recent Hamdan decision, the "fix" reportedly negotiated between The White House and Senator Arlen Specter, in which the legality of the NSA program of warrantless surveillance would be submitted for adjudication on the basis of a one-sided presentation to the FISA court by the Executive Branch -- which alone would be authorized to control the evidence to be considered, the forum for its consideration, whether the proceedings would be public or secret, and whether the result would be published or kept under wraps, and which alone would be authorized to appeal an adverse ruling to an Article III court including the Supreme Court -- is as transparently phony and futile as is the suggestion of a congressionally enacted vehicle to confer standing on someone to obtain a judicial ruling on the legality of this President's signing statements.”
“Or this was all surreptitious, which isn't true, due to state contracts.”
“The two leading cases on so-called surreptitious entry, or what have come to be known as “sneak and peek” searches, came to very similar conclusions….”
“He liked to speak elliptically, but he made it clear that he had on his staff at least one black-bag man that is, a surreptitious entry specialist although he never admitted having had him employ those talents.”
“After years of complaints about cramming - that is, the surreptitious dinging of customers via mystery charges that range from 99 cents to $19.99 - the Federal Communications Commission finally got fed up.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘surreptitious’.
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Test Prep or Just for fun
Building a list for standardized test prep or just for learning some new words! Please add any words that you feel are important for the SAT/GRE/GMAT etc...
throng, morass, parley, facile, kismet, strife, jetsam, carrion, annex, harbinger, vestige, surreptitious and 575 more...
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1100
abound, technology, branch of knowled..., prognosticate, automaton, matron, an older married ..., realm, special field of ..., kingdom, annals, historical records and 981 more...
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GRE 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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allover
reintegrate, spight, surveillant, harmonize, Colophon, workplace, bigoted, unsighted, bridgework, salutation, voltmeter, octane and 159 more...
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Introverted
Quiet, shy, Introverted, reserved, isolated, mysterious
abashed, alienated, alone, anonymous, antisocial, ascetic, asocial, austere, autonomous, awkward, bashful, clannish and 91 more...
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gre words
convoluted, deride, melancholy, antagonize, antagonize, deference, portentous, prodigious, ruminate, ineffable, turgid, mossy and 58 more...
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GRE 1100
drudgery, implore, hapless, nuance, wrest, incipient, inadvertent, tremulous, bristle, euphemism, disdain, pugnacious and 346 more...
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Knee Deep in Chic
Words, prose, bon mots, and literary styles that cause a contagious enthusiasm by its very existence. They can be muses to a story. rekindling the spark that went out. The cure-all elixir to a bla...
euphuism, quiddity, saudade, zugzwang, razbliuto, parti pris, oleaginous, crevasse, chantepleure, chiaroscuro, prestidigitation, dysphemism and 79 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1827 more...
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My GRE Vocab
moniker, sobriquet, prerogative, aberration, aberrant, nuance, notorious, infamous, renown, allude, refer, content and 109 more...
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1100 words you need to know
GRE words
voracious, indiscriminate, replete, steeped, eminent, perceive, intrepid, compound, automaton, reticent, interminable, drudgery and 288 more...
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New Words
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word tank
a couple words
logolepsy, nefarious, quintessential, tintinnabulation, serendipity, rhapsody, palimpsest, panoply, mellifluous, imbue, loquacious, garrulous and 174 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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Vocabulary
Words I come across while reading.
talus, echelon, onanistic, cabochon, avocation, charnel, moue, portentous, prolixity, astringent, hoary, patina and 165 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for surreptitious.

thinkcharlene Perry Mason - Season 8, Episode 18 - "The Case of the Telltale Tap" Jun 13, 2007