Adjacent Words

Furtive definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FUR'TIVE, a. [L. furtivus.]
Stolen; obtained by theft.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: marked by quiet and caution and secrecy; taking pains to avoid being observed; "a furtive manner"; "a sneak attack"; "stealthy footsteps"; "a surreptitious glance at his watch" [syn: furtive, sneak, sneaky, stealthy, surreptitious]
2: secret and sly or sordid; "backstairs gossip"; "his low backstairs cunning"- A.L.Guerard; "backstairs intimacies"; "furtive behavior" [syn: backstair, backstairs, furtive]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: French or Latin; French furtif, from Latin furtivus, from furtum theft, from fur thief, from or akin to Greek ph?r thief; akin to Greek pherein to carry — more at bear Date: 1612 1. a. done by stealth ; surreptitious b. expressive of stealth ; sly <had a furtive look about him> 2. obtained underhandedly ; stolen Synonyms: see secret • furtively adverb • furtiveness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 done by stealth, clandestine, meant to escape notice. 2 sly, stealthy. 3 stolen, taken secretly. 4 thievish, pilfering. Derivatives: furtively adv. furtiveness n. Etymology: F furtif -ive or L furtivus f. furtum theft

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Furtive Fur"tive, a. [L. furtivus, fr. furtum theft, fr. fur thief, akin to ferre to bear: cf. F. furtif. See Fertile.] Stolen; obtained or characterized by stealth; sly; secret; stealthy; as, a furtive look. --Prior. A hasty and furtive ceremony. --Hallam.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you describe someone's behaviour as furtive, you disapprove of them behaving as if they want to keep something secret or hidden. With a furtive glance over her shoulder, she unlocked the door and entered the house. ADJ [disapproval]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Stolen, stealthy, surreptitious, clandestine, secret, sly.

Moby Thesaurus

artful, back-door, backstairs, calculating, chiseling, clandestine, collusive, conspiratorial, covert, covinous, crafty, cunning, deceitful, doggo, false, falsehearted, feline, finagling, foxy, fraudulent, guileful, hidden, hidden out, hidlings, hole-and-corner, hugger-mugger, in ambush, in hiding, in the wings, indirect, insidious, lurking, on tiptoe, private, privy, prowling, pussyfoot, pussyfooted, quiet, scheming, secret, secretive, sharp, shifty, skulking, slinking, slinky, slippery, sly, sneaking, sneaky, stealing, stealthy, surreptitious, treacherous, trickish, tricky, two-faced, under cover, under the table, under-the-counter, under-the-table, undercover, underground, underhand, underhanded, unobtrusive, untrustworthy, waiting concealed, wily